Author: Sebastian

From Jacob, up in New York, talks about how a former President of the Brady Campaign seems to have learned a thing or two about how the “gun lobby” does things:

Far too many gunnies spend their time trying to be right, whether it’s compiling facts about private gun ownership and crime or digging up quotes from the Founding Fathers, and not nearly enough time on how to actually implement their ideas.  Anyone who has ever seen the floor debates on gun bills in Albany knows that a rational discussion on the facts never comes up from the other side.  Why worry about it then?  There is nothing wrong with simply telling a legislator to vote your way or else you will work against them next election cycle.

This is to a large degree true, but more  now that the philosophical ground work on the issue has largely been validated by the Supreme Court. I don’t think, however, you can completely ignore the philosophical roots of the issue, because that is the primary means you can use to persuade some people to your side and motivate them. That doesn’t work with everyone, however, and most politicians don’t really give a crap about your issue (whatever your issue is). They have a lot of competing interests to balance. If you want them to pay attention to you, the dynamic duo of votes and money works every time.

That’s not to say there aren’t true believers. But those are rare birds. Most politicians are true believers in areas where they have a specific self-interest. A shooter Congress Critter might have a heartfelt interest in protecting gun rights, a doctor critter might have strong feelings on health care, etc. But for the most part you’re going to be using the carrot and the stick when dealing with elected official more than facts, figures and persuasion.