Oregon Time To Lay Some New Sod

[arakboss]

This is it ladies and gentleman. It's time to grow some more grassroots. We need to set aside our differences and unify our efforts to minimize the damage to our gun rights that is occurring in the State of Oregon. Let's face it we are outnumbered and our gun rights will not come out of this unscathed. We need to be creative and come up with force multiplying techniques to help equalize our disadvantaged position. Encourage others to join in and initiate their own efforts as well. Northwest Firearms is only a small part of the community and this fight can not be successful with out broad support from around the State.

This morning I would like to suggest an important but relatively easy task nearly everyone can do. I have compiled the following list of the top 5 plus 1 State Senators who won their district seat by the lowest margins. If 4 of these 6 Senators would join all 12 Republican Senators on any particular anti-gun bill, it could be stopped. I encourage you to write a letter, call or otherwise communicate with these individuals and try to convince them to vote against the most egregious of these anti-gun bills. IMHO they will give the most consideration to constituents that will aid their chances of staying in or being reelected to their seat. Learn about the Senator and use creativity when drafting your communications with them. They have heard from minors on one side of the issue but maybe not from our side.

Here's the Top 6 Democrat State Senators who should hear from us widely and repeatedly.

1. Jeff Golden District 3 won seat in 2018 with 55.1% of total votes.
Senator Jeff Golden Home Page

2. Arnie Roblan District 5 won seat in 2016 with 48.24% of total votes. This was a squeaker of a race and he won by less than a 1% margin. Highest priority!
Senator Arnie Roblan Home Page

3. Laurie Monnes Anderson District 25 won seat in 2016 with 55.16% of total votes.
Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson Home Page

4. Lee Beyer District 6 won seat in 2018 with 59.1% of vote. Air Force Vet.
Senator Lee Beyer Home Page

5. Chuck Riley District 29 won seat in 2018 with 59.3% of total votes. Air Force Vet.
Senator Chuck Riley Home Page

6. Betsy Johnson District 16 won seat in 2018 with 82% of totals votes but she has split with her party in the past.
Senator Betsy Johnson Home Page

I realize these Senators have voted for anti-gun measures previously and I am open to adding or adjusting this list if better targets are provided. It's just a bad situation in this state. You don't realize how bad it is until you drill down in to the numbers. The other side not only has advantage in numbers but also in media and corporate favoritism. This will be an ugly year for us, we can only do our very best to make it less so. Our voices have to be heard and heard often around the State

Send It!

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[arakboss]

In order to even have a chance at being successful at blocking anti-gun legislation in 2019 and 2020, this campaign is going to have to be waged with even greater intensity than the IP 43 fight of last year. In the case of letters they don't have to be targeted to specific subjects and the more personal the better IMHO. The recipients of the letters will have to feel like they are seriously at risk of jeopardizing the loyalty of their constituents, if they vote for the most heinous of this gun legislation. It is unrealistic to expect these anti-gun Senators to vote against all of the anti-gun bills that will come across the floor in Salem this year. At best we can hope to block the worst of it. Sorry if that sounds like a defeatist but I'm trying to being realistic.

 

[notazombie]

"The recipients of the letters will have to feel like they are seriously at risk of jeopardizing the loyalty of their constituents, if they vote for the most heinous of this gun legislation."

This could not be more true. I don't feel like letters are terribly effective on their own though. I would assume that most of these public servants aren't personally reading mail or email. At best, they are probably getting a report from an intern. So, while logically argued letters with facts and statistics certainly won't hurt, they probably don't carry a ton of weight with someone who has already decided to vote away rights.
They need to feel uncomfortable for this to have any impact. I'm NOT talking about physical threats of any kind. But they do need to be reminded of their oath and who they work for. They need to be reminded that they are replaceable and all of their perceived power and clout can be removed at the next election or, better yet, through a recall. They need to be reminded in person. Letters are fine but are easily disregarded. A live human constituent demanding answers is a lot harder for them to ignore.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Jeopardize the flow of money and the amount of votes for any elected official and you will be sure to get their attention.

Please note that I am not advocating violence here...but I am saying to try and convince folks to another way of thinking , where to donate their time and money etc..

As both araboss and notazombie have said...demand answers and remind our elected officials of who they actually are supposed to work for , along with the notion that they work at our whim.
Andy

 

[FullMetalJerk]

Done. Done. Done. Done. Done. and Done.

 

[WoodsPlinker]

If it wasn't for other guys like you fighting along side me I wouldn't write every time.

Some times I feel like my words are just causing some low level office worker to snicker and click delete somewhere but ya know what...

As long as you keep writing and calling it's worth it to me to join you.

 

[WasrNwarpaint]

your elected officials think we smell like walmart

 

[nwslopoke]

I would be very willing to help fund a billboard effort with pro rights slogans off I-5 or one of the major freeways. We preach to the choir. Let's take it to the masses.

 

[BSG 75]

6. Betsy Johnson District 16 won seat in 2018 with 82% of totals votes but she has split with her party in the past.
Senator Betsy Johnson Home Page

I realize these Senators have voted for anti-gun measures previously

Not Sen. Betsy Johnson (D). She is already very pro-gun rights and she owns NFA items. Back when the Senate was evenly divided in 2014 she single-handedly stopped the flood of gun control bills that were submitted after Sandy Hook. During that session I sent her arguments against the bills in an email. One night, out of the blue, my phone rang and someone asked for me by name. It was Sen. Johnson. She had tracked me down (my phone number was not in my email) and called to thank me for my email. We had quite a conversation about how those bills were bad. By all means send her letters of encouragement but she is already on our side.

EDIT: I found this old post of mine from 2014 Update 03/06/14 - Oregon SB1551 - Tool Box - GutNStuff Try! that described the pressure the gun controllers were putting on Sen. Johnson since she was the lone vote stopping gun control from passing:

Senator Johnson called me on Saturday to thank me for an email I sent her. She told me about the pressure the antis are putting on her. They had Sandy Hook parents calling her. They had people cold-calling senior citizens and telling them "Did you know Sen. Johnson wants criminals to be able to buy guns without background checks?", and then if they got the person worked up they would say "Would you like to tell Sen. Johnson what you think of her?" and would connect the person to her office. She said she could hear the operatives coaching the person on the line as to what to say. If the person didn't deliver an anti-gun message they would be disconnected. She said the calls were coming in as fast as her staff could answer them. After all of that pressure she received she really appreciated the supportive email I sent.

 

[nwslopoke]

I don't live in her district unfortunately, but she did respond personally to a letter I wrote in response to one of the anti bills. No one in my district responded.

 

[DuneHopper]

Why one can never know if a particular politician reads your letter, if drafted properly they do read them personally.
When I was wanting pro-2nd legislation, it all started with a email, which eventually resulted in a draft, and then a meeting.
Which eventually saved some of our rights.

What they will not read or care about is threats, name calling, talking down to them. If you want your letter read, validate that
representatives concerns and then explain why its not a good idea. I usually get a response and at times a phone call from that politician.

 

[tiggers97]

We need to wake up the people who can write in and say "I voted for you, but...".

Oh, and CHuck only won because a "libertarian" ran and siphoned a large chunk of the vote from Starr. What was so upsetting about it was that the "libertarian" and her husband running for another seat seemed to treat it like "why not? This will be fun!!!" attitude.

 

[WoodsPlinker]

Not Sen. Betsy Johnson (D). She is already very pro-gun rights and she owns NFA items. Back when the Senate was evenly divided in 2013 she single-handedly stopped the flood of gun control bills that were submitted after Sandy Hook. During that session I sent her arguments against the bills in an email. One night, out of the blue, my phone rang and someone asked for me by name. It was Sen. Johnson. She had tracked me down and called to thank me for my email. We had quite a conversation about how those bills were bad. By all means send her letters of encouragement but she is already on our side.

Can confirm, I'm glad she is my representative.

 

[nammac]

Chuck Riley has a hearing impediment, can only hear the voice of Michael Bloomberg and Benjamin Franklin...

 

[Cigarlvr313]

your elected officials think we smell like walmart

We think they smell like the sewage treatment plant that Walmart uses......

 

[shooter777]

Marbury v. Madison
from Wikipedia:

Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), was a U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws, statutes, and some government actions that contravene the U.S. Constitution. Decided in 1803, Marbury remains the single most important decision in American constitutional law.[1] The Court's landmark decision established that the U.S. Constitution is actual "law", not just a statement of political principles and ideals, and helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the American form of government.

 

[FullMetalJerk]

your elected officials think we smell like walmart

 

[WoodsPlinker]

View attachment 539688

Is that pine scented? Here let me fix that for you: