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 What's The New Thing All About? 
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 Post subject: What's The New Thing All About?
PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 6:49 pm 
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I've been asked a fair amount as to what this is all about. Let's talk about it.

There's a fair amount of urgent stuff to do over the next several years. For the next two years, at least, there's a lot of fingers that need to be in dikes; Joe Olson has written persuasively on that -- and, in my strongly-held opinion, he's right. (I'm more hopeful about help from the Pawlenty administration than he is -- but do remember that he's been doing this stuff for more than a quarter of a century, and it's quite possible that I'm being too optimistic.)

There's lots that we can do to work on that -- talking to our own State reps and senators in useful ways and at appropriate -- not always quiet or loud -- volumes and quantities. (Those folks who remember the writing/emailing/calling campaign during the repassage of the Personal Protection Act in 2005 will know what I'm talking about.)

There was a time when I would have thought that the best way to do that sort of thing would have been through GOCRA/CCRN -- the oldest and most effective Minnesota-specific gun rights group -- but that time has gone.

Why? Well, there's lots of reasons -- but maybe the most important is, well, fun . . . or, more accurately, the lack of fun. CCRN meetings and activities used to be large and fun to do; they're not, for all but the dozen-at-best stalwarts who soldier on there, month after month. Attendance has dropped off, well, dramatically, and while I'm tempted to engage in some fingerpointing over that, I'm not sure how that would be useful.

We've got a lot to do, and if we don't make it fun, a lot of it won't get done. So I'm for fun.

And there's lots of fun things to do. Many of us have been having fun through Forum-related activities, whether it's the TCC breakfasts or less formal get-togethers (not that the breakfasts are formal). A couple of guys have been -- without anybody having pushed them to -- taking a lot of new folks shooting for the first time.

The implications of that are obvious, and cool -- more people should be doing that, and there's ways to do it well. Some have been doing more obvious political activism -- talking to the DNR about signage, the way Andrew has; working with various politicians on various things (pardon me being elliptical about that right now; we'll talk about it on December 16th); opening dialogue with various sheriffs and state government officials -- ditto; helping to educate the non-self-defense gun community in various ways, particularly the press. (Yes, many reporters would like to do a better job than they do.)

And then there's the remarkably large instructor community that's been networking through the Forum and around it (remind me to tell you about the first time I ever got a call from Tom Tousignant, some time), helping to make instruction better and the market more open.

There's lots of serious stuff, too. For reasons we'll go into at the meeting, there's some issues in the instructor community that need to be handled, and others that need to be handled better.

There's lots we need to do: get more people involved in political activity, get more people involved in shooting, and, yes, get more people to take out carry permits.

So: let's get together on the 16th, have some fun and talk a bit. I've got some ideas, and I bet you do, too.

There's work to do and fun to be had; let's do it and have it.

And, yup, that's what The New Thing is all about.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:05 am 
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My take on this, Joel, is that we can't be seen as just a bunch of fat, middle aged white guys (even though that's just exactly what I am), with chips on their shoulders. We need more younger folks, women, and people of color, and get these people up front where they can be seen. Pink Pistols is a good start, but there's so much more we can do locally.

That said, we also need more Democrats and centrists, and not just the right wing Republicans. Gun owners span the spectrum, and the second amendment belongs to everyone.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 6:41 am 
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I don't think I could agree more.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:04 am 
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So, we have to avoid comments that stereotype people by sex and political views or party just as we try to avoid racial or sexual orientation stereotypes?

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:06 am 
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Dick Unger wrote:
So, we have to avoid comments that stereotype people by sex and political views or party just as we try to avoid racial or sexual orientation stereotypes?


It would seem to me that the simple solution is to try to avoid stereotyping altogether. We need to make this the proverbial "Big Tent" and WELCOME any ands all regardless of their politics, gender, religion, sexual orientation/affectation or any other characteristic EXCEPT an anti-gun attitude.

We need to break the stereotype that all gun owners are knuckle dragging xenophobic rednecks.

In my not so humble opinion this is the only stereotype we need to concern ourselves with.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:38 am 
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jac714 wrote:
Dick Unger wrote:
So, we have to avoid comments that stereotype people by sex and political views or party just as we try to avoid racial or sexual orientation stereotypes?


It would seem to me that the simple solution is to try to avoid stereotyping altogether. We need to make this the proverbial "Big Tent" and WELCOME any ands all regardless of their politics, gender, religion, sexual orientation/affectation or any other characteristic EXCEPT an anti-gun attitude.
Absolutely.

And, that said, I'm not at all opposed to antigun folks showing up on December 16 -- in fact, I think it would be fine; they might learn something.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:46 am 
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[/quote]Absolutely.

And, that said, I'm not at all opposed to antigun folks showing up on December 16 -- in fact, I think it would be fine; they might learn something.[/quote]

One thing they might learn is that we're not so different from them in many ways.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:54 am 
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Exactly. One of the things I liked the most about my first TCC breakfast was the grouping of a bunch of ordinary folks, from all different parts of town and walks of life, who all happen to enjoy shooting and believe in self-defense. It was great fun to meet people and talk about, well, everything- including guns.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:09 am 
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Old Dude wrote:
One thing they might learn is that we're not so different from them in many ways.
Yup. I think that's one of the reasons that Heather Martens and Rebecca Thoman of the "Citizens for a 'Safer' Minnesota" worked so hard to keep their very few members from talking with any of us; much easier to keep them scared if they don't actually meet us.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:17 am 
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I think that the event should well reflect the diverse nature of the shooting community. A friend of mine will be there with his "pro-gun liberal" t-shirt. I hope he'll also bring some more pro-gun liberals.

In fact, that's a good goal. Start right now: Who will you encourage to come? Your spouse? A fence-sitter friend?

If we're to be effective, it'll take lots of one-on-one activism. So get out there and start promoting this event. Let's fill the joint!

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:45 am 
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Many years ago, when I was involved in politics (of a somewhat leftist variety), I always thought that the key to success was in treating those who opposed you as human beings. It never meant much sense to me to demonize, say, Richard Nixon because I think many people have known folks in their lives who are like Nixon in some ways.

You may fervently believe that your opponents are wrong-headed, mislead, mis-educated or whatever, but they are still human beings. Antis have families they care deeply about. They have friends whom they love. And their lives mean as much to them as mine does to me.

I think the idea of inviting someone who is "on the fence" or maybe even moderately anti is a good idea. A constructive dialogue is a good thing.

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Last edited by Old Dude on Tue Nov 28, 2006 11:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 11:57 am 
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The whole "Thing" sounds exciting and holds the promise of us as a group being able to make something positive happen to expand and promote gun rights in MN.

Unfortunately December 16 is our annual family gathering so I will not be able to attend. Whatever is going on at the meeting will be in my thoughts and I'll be looking forward to hearing about the ideas presented.

On Monday the 18th we head for our winter home in AZ but with my computer I won't be out of touch.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:59 pm 
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joelr wrote:
jac714 wrote:
Dick Unger wrote:
So, we have to avoid comments that stereotype people by sex and political views or party just as we try to avoid racial or sexual orientation stereotypes?


It would seem to me that the simple solution is to try to avoid stereotyping altogether. We need to make this the proverbial "Big Tent" and WELCOME any ands all regardless of their politics, gender, religion, sexual orientation/affectation or any other characteristic EXCEPT an anti-gun attitude.
Absolutely.

And, that said, I'm not at all opposed to antigun folks showing up on December 16 -- in fact, I think it would be fine; they might learn something.


I have no issue with anti's showing up, unless of course their reason is to disrupt the proceedings.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:14 pm 
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jac714 wrote:
I have no issue with anti's showing up, unless of course their reason is to disrupt the proceedings.
Even that's okay with me -- I know how to handle that easily.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:19 pm 
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I just figure why deal with it?

But I guess we need to operate on a higher plane than they might.

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