By J. Noble Daggett
I am a congressional staffer for a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives. I live in my Congressman’s district, not D.C. As such I am on the front line of communicating with voters and constituents, relay their sentiments to my boss, the Congressman.
I am also a gun owner who takes multiple training classes annually, carries daily and is a dues-paying member of two gun rights organizations. Over the last few days, I have received dozens of faxes and other communications from pro-gun rights individuals expressing their views on bills that are currently under consideration in Washington.
Sadly, most of these opinions will have no impact at all because of how they were communicated with our office. So, with multiple bills being proposed and/or filed that would directly impact those of us in the gun-owning community, I would like to offer a few suggestions how best to communicate with your Representatives’ offices.
If you call, email or fax, please give your name, address, and phone number. If you won’t tell me who you are I can’t enter it into the computer system.
Most of the faxes I received had no name, address or phone number attached. This is also important because elected officials are more likely to listen to those people who can vote for them.
A congressman most likely doesn’t care what you think if you live three states away from him. That might not seem right or fair, but it is the truth. They always prioritize constituents who live in their district or state and can vote in the next election.
When you give me your name and address, I can see not only if you’re a constituent, but also if you are a voter. Our office records comments from voters and non-voters alike, but I am not sure all offices do. Again, elected officials are always more likely to listen to those who can vote for them.
While I get a lot of faxes, emails and phone calls are best. I am not saying no one pays attention to mass faxes generated from a website, but personal contact is always more effective. Even if you simply re-write a form letter into your own words, it shows that you cared enough to put the time and effort into the communication.
If you call your Representative’s D.C. office, you most often will talk to an intern. They generally know little or nothing. Don’t expect an intelligent discussion of the issue you’re calling about. Give them your contact info, the bill number (if possible) or the issue and your opinion.
Ask for a written reply. You will get a form letter on the issue, but it confirms that your opinion was recorded. That’s the important part.
Calling local offices in your state most often will get you someone more knowledgeable, but they also are focused on helping folks with a range of problems dealing with the government. Don’t be surprised if you know more than they do on the issue you’re calling about.
If you are abusive, they will hang up. I will give you one F-bomb of leeway before I cut you off. Don’t be that guy. Being polite goes a long way.
We all are more likely to listen to people we know and trust. If you can, develop a line of communication with your Representatives before a critical issue comes up.
Send a Christmas card. Stop by the local office and introduce yourself. Invite the Congressman or a staff member to a local gun shop or range. Ask if you or your group could have a meeting with the Congressman at his local office.
You would be surprised at how often regular citizens just like you do that. Our Chief of Staff was invited to a local gun store and had a great visit where they explained the difference between a rifle, an SBR and a pistol with a stabilizing brace.
Do not be surprised by how little they know. Instead, educate them. Remember you are the subject matter expert. Be proactive and build those relationships. It can and does pay off down the road.
As a gun owner and strong supporter of gun rights I want to urge you to get involved by contacting your Congressman and Senators. You would be surprised at how few people actually reach out to them them about issues.
If you think your elected official is solidly on your side, contact them and thank him for it. If you think it’s a waste of time because they are rabidly anti-gun, contact them anyway. If we want to protect our rights we have to communicate, educate, and vote.
J. Noble Daggett the ‘nom de plume’ of a staffer for a current member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
My congress man is swallwell. He won’t be hearing from me.
My congressman is Mike Garcia (R).
My Senators are both uber (D), with the most recent one having been appointed by Newsom (not elected by us plebes) after Harris abandoned her post to become Biden’s Vice Puppet. So…
I got the same senators. Or lack thereof.
Unfortunately, the only responses from Swallwell are flatulence.
Well I’ve got Toomey and Casey in the Senate. I contact them anyway.
People in congress took an oath to Protect and Defend The Constitution of The United States. If they fail to do that they are not worthy of their position much less worthy of your time trying to be heard over screaming History illiterates crying for knee jerk Gun Control.
Common sense says that Constitutional Oath excludes any support whatsoever for Gun Control when History Confirms Gun Control is an agenda rooted in racism and genocide.
In other words…Ignoring the History of Gun Control to appease short sighted people would be exactly the same as ignoring the History of racism and genocide to appease the kkk and the nazi ss. That path of stupidity can only lead to The History of Gun Control Repeating Itself.
You should receive your first check within a week or so. Or you can start to have them wire directly into your bank account. (Your first checks will be about $500 to $1,500 a week. Then it goes up from there.5
Depends on how much time you spent on it….. http://Www.BizPay1.com
MODERATORS
when will we get the power to report and block spammers? WHY can’t you build a bot into the system that will flag all posts for review that have a bold URL as a closer? Sick of spam, it is fixable.
My rep is Pramila Jayapal. I would be wasting everyone’s time.
You could always just be a polite ass to him. Do all the above but simply ask, “I’ve heard you are on the record for being in favor of dropping nukes on American soil. Could you provide this voter an explanation why this is your opinion, and why I should vote for self inflicted nuclear fallout?”
Wrong approach. I {politely, but perhaps a little sardonically) write Joe Biden every three or four weeks expressing my extreme displeasure with his totally ineffective brand of leadership. And yes, I use my real name and address to make sure my thoughts register. Swallwell is an A$$ but he is your representative. Tell him what you think!
If you adopt tte working hypothesis that Brandon is a commie, you will quickly see him as very effective…
“ The Most Effective Way to Let Your Congressman Know You Oppose Gun Control”
Slash their tires? Leave a note in their tire affixed with a knife?
/just kidding
They just had a *massive* loss, far bigger than they yet realize.
Don’t get caught doing anything they can leverage against you…
I agree. It was for a laugh. I encourage anyone out there thinking of doing something stupid… to… go ahead and not do that.
Alternatively to slashing tires, they can also buy some cheap processed sliced cheese, like kraft american cheese (or cheaper off brand cheese) in individually wrapped slices, and start sticking all those cheese slices to you rep’s car, so when the rep returns to their car, their car is yellow with hundreds of hot cheese slices all over their car, melting in the hot sun. When they jump in their car and drive off to avoid a angry mob of protesters chasing them, it will be hilarious to watch the cheese slices peel off at high speed on the highway.
Cheese slices also make good post-it notes. Slap a cheese slice on the window of your rep’s door, then use a sharpie on top of the cheese slice to write your message. When you are protesting, also bring some bread so you can make a sandwich when you get hungry.
As an added feature, and for more eye popping zing, also bring a can of cheese whiz. After slapping your cheese message on their car or door, use the cheese whiz for decorative borders of your cheese message. Also bring some crackers, so if you get hungry while you are protesting you have a nice snack.
These days, and in this heat, most people are cracking the windows of their car. For added entertainment, buy a bunch of cans of barbasol shaving cream. Find your rep’s car, and filled up the cabin of their car with a dozen or so cans of shaving creams and sit back and watch hilarity ensue. If they leave their doors unlocked, which many in Washington DC do, to prevent thieves from breaking their windows, you have have a quicker means of performing the cabin-barbasol-fill. People in DC will not leave valuables in their car and leave the door unlocked so thieves will simply open the door and search the car for valuables without breaking their window. In this case, simply open the door, and start stabbing the barbasol cans with a screwdriver and throwing the barbasol grenades into the car. You can get it down to a rhythm that is very fast, stab and throw. Be quick, as the barbasol cans will be quickly dispersing their contents. Throw them all in and then sit back and watch hilarity ensue when they open their car door and find their car has become a mobile Twinkie. Bring a razor, so you can shave while you are waiting at the protest.
Additionally, and probably the best one, is to add hood ornaments. Back in the day, cars came with hood ornaments. Little sculptures or suspended logos of their vehicle manufacture on the front center of their hood pointing forward. Go retro, by purchasing a huge, gargantuan, and as grotesque as possible, dîldò. Adhere the dîldò on the front center portion of the hood of your rep’s car. Angle the dîldò forward by about 30 degrees, so when they are driving down the road, it sways back in forth.
Another idea – Truck balls. Some people have a great time putting truck balls on their truck. These people are NOT representatives, who would find the idea of balls on their vehicle abhorrent and terrifying. Using Papier-mâché, sculpt a veiny, and horrendously large pair of truck balls and then paint in the color of your choice. It’s best to embed a small chain or rope into the Papier-mâché for attachment to the back of their vehicle, and for the added benefit of swaying around when their vehicle is on the go.
So after attaching their hood dîldò, attach the balls at the rear of their vehicle.
For more fun, spray cheese whiz around the hood dîldò to “symbolism” and on the sack of the truck balls. This way, when they are removing the truck balls from their vehicle, they are also getting creamy cheese on them (symbolism).
@Anonymous….
I find your lack of tact and decorum to be…amusing. Feel free to expand upon your imagination to spread more cheer and delight.
Hey Nonnie Mouse. these childish pranks WILL get the perpetrator of them arrested and charged with the vandalism/property destruction you advocate.
Grow up and write a real letter, sich it with your legal name and address, and get it to them. Take responsibility for the mess we’re in. We’re here because tooo mny have played kid games like you do.
Anything that makes your Congressman Swallwell hesitate even slightly before he shoots his unregistered mouth off at guns and gun owners is a plus. Write you letter, jwm. Then gather your friends* and hold a public rally against Swallwell and his latest bill to disarm blacks.**
* You do have friends, don’t you?
** Disarming everybody disarms blacks too. Pass the word to all liberals of your acquaint.
I live in Colorado and all three of my reps are Democrats, two Senators and one House Rep.
Sending them any kind of correspondence is useless. All that every happens is you get a form letter telling you what a great job they are doing by doing what you just complained about.
These people are stone deaf, so I don’t even bother asking for a response. They are like robots and simply repeat whatever narrative the Party or Administration has chosen to promote. There is not one objective thinker in the entire lot, and I am sure most in Congress are the same way since they seldom differ from the standard party line.
I find that true as well. The responses are pre-written texts that often show their actions are in direct opposition to what you wrote them about, but keep writing. One of our complaints will get through. That’s all it takes, one well written explanation of the abject failure of anti 2A legislation. They will come to understand one way or another and hopefully sooner rather than later.
My representative is a conservative Republican who regularly votes to protect 2A rights. I write him all the time. Every time I write, I get a form letter back. Form letters are routine. If you don’t write your representative or senators and express your opinion, then DO NOT complain about how he or she votes!
Iowa, for many years, had a committed commie POS as a US Senator (Harkin). Was rather satisfying “feeling” to give the SOB a piece of mind on whatever moronic stance/vote he took. As this was an every day thing no lack of opportunities to provide the useless turd corrective advise.
That Iowa has rid ourselves of most of our useless prog elected this cathartic opportunity is no more.
Ernst did sell us down the river on Red Flag legislation. With her support and vote for VAWA and the Safe Guns Act. That both provide for the implementation of Red Flag laws. Even though she has stated numerous times her opposition to Red Flag laws.
I came here to echo dprato’s sentiment.
Thanks to Gerrymandering, my new U.S. Representative is a dyed-in-the-wool blue Democrat. Attempts to persuade her to vote conservative on any bill are a complete and total waste of time. I might as well live in Berkeley, California.
Unless your U.S. Representative is in a purple district and every election is on the line, they don’t care about your opinions. What they do care about is campaign donations, re-election, and opportunities to profit handsomely from their position of influence.
Interesting, and informative. However…….
To be a representative of the people, one must be voted into office. That requires mucho money. Then, one must be reelected. That requires mucho money. In between, the representative (House or Senate) the elected person is subject, and beholden, to party control. Which means supporting the party line. A major portion of which is raising mucho money.
One does wonder how a political staffer can determine “if you are a voter.”
If they have your name a simple check of the voter rolls will verify. I am sure staffers have access to the voter registration rolls in each County.
Politicians are like hookers, they are loyal while you are paying them. Once the money is gone, they are gone.
Hookers are more respectable, they will freely admit they only want your money. A politician lies and says it is about serving the constituents.
“Politicians are like hookers, they are loyal while you are paying them. Once the money is gone, they are gone.”
The problem with politicians is they don’t stay bought.
I must disagree, hookers are not anything like politicians, A prostitute will stop sccrewing you when you are dead, not so much for politicians!
The difference between Hookers and Politicians is a Hooker will stop screwing you when your money runs out. A Politician will keep screwing you, even after you are DEAD.
Sam I Am –
In my state, voter registration lists are public. With that list, you can tell who is registers to vote.
Maybe it’s time to try going full Athenian and filling all public offices by lot. Couldn’t be any worse that the ones we get now, and would do away with the bribery-but-not-bribery-but-really-bribery of campaign financing.
They know if you are registered to vote. They also know if you show up to vote on a regular basis. This info is kept in the voter rolls.
They do not necessarily know who you voted for (but who knows with the vote fraud machines everyone uses lately). They probably can look up your most recent party affiliation if you voted in the primary.
My current congresscritter is Bobby Scott. He is in a supermajority democrat district. He does not answer Republican concerns, ever. Unfortunately I am moving next Friday into another democrat district to be day care for my grands. I do intend to work to unseat her, Abigail Spanberger, another brain dead democrat.
My congress critter is a brown woman(south of Chiraq>Robin Kelly). Ultra left. She hates me having a gat. She likely hates me being married to the most beautiful black women on earth…
Women? This is new information, just how many? I’m gonna TELL …
“You would be surprised at how few people actually reach out to them them about issues.”
I think a lot of people assume that their feedback and opinions will get dumped in the circular file and ignored. I appreciated this article because it suggests that might not actually be the case. Though money admittedly talks, the concerns of ordinary citizens should be the highest priority and most essential moral imperative for any elected official.
Worse than ignored it opens you up to electioneering calls and mailings.
Contacting Kuster, Pappas, Shaheen or Hassan is beyond worthless unless I want to collect pre-written and pre-recorded form responses. Their positions are party positions.
Better off divorcing myself from them entirely.
Napresto is correct. If one does nothing, then they shouldn’t expect anything.
It is similar to not showing up to take a test(any test), by not showing up one fails themself.
You have nothing to lose by emailing, writing or phoning but a little time.
I also am in the habit of calling back members of Congress and thanking them for their vote after the fact or letting them know I was disappointed in their vote. I don’t know how many times I’ve been told that out of the hundreds of calls they get asking them to vote a certain way they get less than half a dozen calls thanking them for voting that way after the fact.
My representative is a very liberal Democrat and I call her office multiple times a week they’re always very polite, ask questions and I try to educate them on issues that are important to me even though I know how she’s going to vote. I never use profanity but I will tell they flat out that should “bill” A, B, C or D become law I will not in anyway shape or form comply and why I am refusing to comply should it become law.
J. Noble Daggett! He damn near backed the Duke down!
I think that we are edging ever closer to the very most effective way to let our ” elected representatives” know how we oppose gun control, and there aren’t going to be any nice letters bound for the circular file involved.
Pb, I once heard if you love your liberty thank a veteran. If you want to keep it shoot a politician. I don’t recall who said it, but I’m sure it was tounge-in-cheek.
Eventually that is going to be our only recourse.
VOTE , GOD BLESS AMERICA AND OUR BELOVED CONSTITUTION . PROTECT IT .
Anglia needs to be moderated.
Anglia needs to meet the vice squad.
One of the best TTAG articles yet posted. No matter where you live, if you don’t write your representative or senators then don’t complain about how he or she votes.
I communicated by email regularly with my state representative, who personally responded. We had some good discussions. Full disclosure: he also teaches CHL classes and pushes for smaller gov’t, which meant we agree on most everything. Unfortunately he has been term limited, and decided to not go the usual route of simply shifting to some other state position. He was a serious citizen legislator. I’ve written to others, and sometimes get thoughtful responses, sometimes not. Even though they seem to exist in a rarefied atmosphere above us, not all politicians are snakes in the grass. A few are decent folk, given the chance.
This is why term limits sound good in theory but are secretly terrible. The incumbent carpetbaggers just groom their successors sooner and/or play musical office chairs. Meanwhile, it only limits how much the rare good-guy-in-government can get done.
Good luck, Mr. Daggett. As for me, I tend to lean towards Robert Heinlein’s philosophy:
“I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.”
I DO NOT OPPOSE GUN CONTROL, NOT AT ALL, BAN THE MILITARY STYLE AR-15’S, THE AK 47’S, THESKS’S, HIGH CAPACITY MAGAZINES, LEAVE OUR HUNTING GUNS ALONE ,WE NEED THEM FOR SQUIRRELS, RABBITS, DEER, BIRDS, TO PROVIDE FOOD ON OUUR TABLES FOR OUR FAMILYS, THE PUBLIC HAS NO NEED OF THE KILLING TOOLS DESIGNED FOR THE MILITARY ,& THE POLICE FORCES, I AM FOR STRONGER BACKGROUND CHECJKS ALONG WITH MENTAL EVALUATIONS, & AGE LIMITS TO 21 YEARS OF AGE FOR ANY GUN & AMMO PURCHASES, THE KILLING OF INNOCENT PEOPLES HAS TO STOP, & THE RACISM IN OUR POLICE FORCES HASA TO GO.. SENCERLY; MR. MARVIN L. LONG SR. HONERABLE VETERAN, PATRIOTIC AMERICAN CITIZEN……
Wow. NTexas has an oath-breaker vet cousin.
You’d think he’d at least try to be a little more original with his alter ego.
What fools like you will never understand is that once you allow them to ban the “military style” firearms, magazines, etc, they will then be coming for your hunting guns.
WILL YOU EVER UNDERSTAND THAT???
Sorry, my caps button was stuck as well.
So please explain why my M1Garand, which uses a much more potent cartridge, and was actually a weapon of war, is considered acceptable, but an AR-15 that uses a souped up .22 cartridge and has never been adopted as a combat, or as an issue weapon by any branch of the military, is a weapon of war. Then explain away the fact that every single type of firearm has at some point been employed as a military weapon. Your hunting/sporting rifles, usually use more powerful cartridges than the 5.56 NATO round. And, since many carry telescopic sights, they could be considered as sniper weapons.
If, you were actually a veteran remember your oath. If you ever served in any capacity, you should know the M16/M4 family of firearms are actually less powerful than the full sized battle rifles of previous generations.
Just going by your comment, either you were a REMF, or you are nothing but a FUDD.
@marvin long
” BAN THE MILITARY STYLE AR-15’S, …”
“THE PUBLIC HAS NO NEED OF THE KILLING TOOLS DESIGNED FOR THE MILITARY”
well its a good thing then that the civilian grade model AR-15 is not a “killing tool” designed for the U.S. military, but rather its specifically designed for the civilian market.
If the civilian grade model AR-15 were a “killing tool” designed for the U.S. military the U.S. military would be full of civilian grade model AR-15’s and recognize the civilian grade model AR-15 as an ‘assault rifle’ or ‘weapon of war’ but the U.S. military does not recognize the civilian grade model AR-15 as an ‘assault rifle’ or ‘weapon of war’.
The civilian grade semi-auto model AR-15 is specifically manufactured to be less lethal and less effective than a counter part (the U.S. military M4) U.S. military firearm. This is because the U.S. government actually says it is and in function and use it is actually is less lethal and less effective than a counter part (the U.S. military M4) U.S. military firearm.
It was part of the governments reason years ago to limit common use civilian firearms to semi-auto, so they would be meaningfully reduced to less lethal without full-auto mechanism.
Three round burst is a form of full auto also, just a limited full auto.
The NFA of 1934 reasoning for restricting full auto fire firearms was that full auto fire was meaningfully more lethal (also out gunned police who mainly used revolvers back then) WHEN USED IN CRIME than firearms which did not fire full auto. The reasoning limited common use firearms to less than full auto fire thus no full-auto mechanism in common use firearms, specifically because less than full auto fire was meaningfully less lethal. This same reasoning still forms the foundation of the NFA and law today today in terms of full auto.
semi-auto is not a form of full auto nor is it three round burst or full auto. Thus the civilian consumer grade semi-auto MSR (AKA AR-15) by the governments own reasoning and justification and definition, and in actual use and function, is meaningfully less lethal anmd less effective compared to the M4 carbine or any full auto firearm or a three round burst auto fire firearm.
The MSR (AKA AR-15) is in common use, and as a common use firearm it is constitutionally valid, needed, and necessary as the right to keep and bear arms includes those arms in common use for lawful purposes and such lawful purposes include a range of use from defense to hunting to sporting to hobby to collecting to simply exercising the right to have. It is unconstitutional to ban a firearm in common use for lawful purposes by law abiding people. I got news for you too, ‘high capacity’ magazines have also in common use since before the constitution was written, a magazine is simply a supply of ammunition. It does not matter if you don’t agree with it, its an enumerated constitutional right for law abiding to have firearms (and magazines for the use of that firearm) in common use for lawful purposes.
correction:
“The civilian grade semi-auto model AR-15 is specifically manufactured to be less lethal and less effective than a counter part (the U.S. military M4) U.S. military firearm.”
should have been …
The civilian grade semi-auto model AR-15 is specifically manufactured to be less lethal and less effective than a counter part (the U.S. military M4 or any AR-15 based ‘M’ series military designation, for example, the M-16) U.S. military firearm.
@marvin long
… and to add, it is the U.S. government that specifically blessed semi-auto firearms to exist in our society by their reasoning used in the NFA of 1934.
Today in effect want to re-write the NFA blessing by using attempted end runs around the constitution with proposing bans by falsely claiming the civilian grade semi-auto MSR (AKA AR-15) is a U.S. military ‘weapon of war’ or ‘assault rifle’ and it isn’t.
Just what we need. Another lefty freedom hating retard on ttag.
Most (in reality I’m sure all) know who/where you are in seconds of connecting your call. At least if you have ever called them before. If you doubt it confirm they are looking at your address when you give them your name.
A sure bet that the enemies of the Republic (alphabet agencies) have full data on your congressional contacts regarding any area of interest. Childs play for Google/Amazon/NSA to collect/profile from your calls/messages about the 2nd, abortion, illegal 2020 election, J6 gulag, etc . So if you’re “concerned” about who is maintaining DB from 4473 or CCL info…..
I suspect this is a reason some DONT contact congresscritters.
The “BEST” way to comment is to attend their public meetings in your district. IF you can learn their schedule. Most keep it secret for “security”
The NRO collects everything.
You’re joking, right? If someone calls you, do not EVER give them your name. If they do not already know it they have no business calling you, hang up!
This is good advice and I wish more gun owners would use it. On any given day in a casual conversation with friends, family, co-workers etc., I like to bring up the question of who is your state senator, representative, congressman, US senator, etc. and too often I get the blank stare for an answer. As a legal law abiding gun owner I have my local, state and federal officials contact numbers in my phone and call often to let them know how I feel about issues and to request how I would like them to vote. It’s not hard and doesn’t take much time.
Thank you Staffer, excellent advice.
Especially about the get-to-know-you personal touches.
Thank you for your service.
What if you live in a state that is slanted away from your beliefs? There are pro gun Dems in certain states and others that just don’t say anything, but do not rock the boat. But, if you live in Ca or NY, you really have very little input with senators or congress critters, because they vote as a block and do NOT care what you want at all. It feels so autocratic, but that is what we have.
The big problem here is we had gun grabbing Republicans running our state, Ronald Reagan, for one, and other Republicans that caused huge problems here. Deukmejian and Pete Wilson, followed by Gray Davis(moderate Dem), all did bad damage to the state.
There are many fiscally conservative and socially liberal people in this state that just can not stomach the old guard Ca Republicans – they did the damage and now we have to live with the left in control.
“𝑫𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘.”
I would have hoped that an elected official would feel a personal obligation/duty to become as knowledgeable as possible about the issues they are voting on… after all it is their friggin job. What the author of the article is saying with that statement makes about as much sense as “we’ll find out what’s in the bill after it becomes law.”
Xsnipe,
Yeah you would think, but that isn’t how it works. Go watch any commission debate something that you’re knowledgeable about. It’s scary how ignorant they are. They often wing it and run off emotion. I noticed this when I was following the MMA legality debate in New York. It had been going on for years. They had no excuse for being ignorant about the issue.
These people aren’t open minded. They aren’t trying to figure out the facts. They’re only working for the lobbyists paying them.
My angelic wife worked as a professional assistant for (mostly) conservative state representatives for over 20 years and she would often come home and tearfully tell me of the evil and vile people that would spew the nastiest puke on the phone. A surprising amount were callers from out of state unhappy with how our state was being run. I can assure you none of those “messages” got relayed to her Rep. Be nice and they will usually be happy to relay your sentiments on to your elected official. God I’m glad she’s retired and doesn’t have to go through that crap anymore!
Say hi to Mattie for us, Mr. Dagget. She used to draw you like a gun 😉
Blacky Tom lost his left eye in a fight a couple weeks ago.
My Congressman here in Lee Co FL is a big black young weightlifter named Byron Donalds. He is a very conservative well spoken Constitutional advocate. I would LOVE to see some Leftie crazies get in face.
My Congressman is Golden. My Senators are Collins and King. The only thing I can do about Golden is work to get him removed. But the party already has managed to remove the one good candidate that ran against his challenger in the primary. King doesn’t have any party to speak of to pester in any way. The earlier he gets a strong challenger perhaps the faster he might reconsider his alignment with the left. But that’s a sad way to have to look at things. Collins acts like she’s a lame duck candidate that needn’t pay attention to what her constituents want. I couldn’t give away a single Collins sign before the last election. But the party covers for her every step of the way. All I can do is stir up trouble at the local level. My county along with others voted to censure her for what she did to Trump but that stuff was squashed by the state chairwoman who is one of her buddies.
I don’t see the GOP doing diddly to ensure any sense of an honest election this year so my only advice to readers of TTAG is to Walk Away From The GOP. Buy guns and ammo and just wait for the STHF.
Marvin,
You swore an Oath to the US Constitution, when you left service you were never told your Oath expired. I took my Oath as well, and after 21 years of upholding that Oath, I was never told I was relived of it.
Nothing in the Constitution, the BoR or in all of the debates that surrounded the 2A did anyone make a reference to banning military hardware from the citizenry. In fact many citizens had superior firearms than did the uniformed military.
Can I let you in on a little secret? I used to have the exact same job as this contributor. If a member of Congress is on the fence about guns, which seems impossible, then a LOT of people writing in might make a difference. If they’re all the same form letter, I don’t know. If the bulk of the mail seems organically made, perhaps it can change the tide. But being on the fence simply doesn’t happen on this issue. No matter what, you will get a canned response in return that is not satisfactory. Trust me, I used to write them.
Otherwise, members of Congress do not care about you, the constituent. They pretend they do. Some of them are really good at it. I’ve seen this nonsense up close and personal, which is why I am an ex-staffer. I am not a cynical person by nature, except when it comes to Washington, DC. It is a cesspool that will never get cleaned up.
I’ll tell you another little secret: the more you donate to a member, the more they “care.” Money works better than emails.
How little they know? You are kidding me, right? I mean, who doesn’t understand the 2nd Amendment or even HOW criminals TARGET people. WT F man???
So, a congressional staffer that won’t give “his” or “her” name wants me to give my name, phone number, address? Especially about something as sensitive as gun rights? WHere it has been made utterly clear that the Left will abuse and persecute us?
Not going to happen bro.
A gravity wagon full of fertilizer and a tank of diesel fuel gets there attention.
You pull in with a tractor. a chisel plow, disk, cultivator, planter and plant them a good garden and you’d get some favors.
Sorry possum, wouldn’t work the way you’re proposing… it’d be like scheduling a delivery of sand to Saudi Arabia.
Congresscritters are the most effective manure spreaders known to all of mankind.
After reading your first sentence, I thought you were going in a different direction with your comment (fertilizer + fuel). That would have attracted more glowies to you than flies to…well…fertilizer.
“America is at that awkward stage; it’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.” ― Claire Wolfe
The most effective way, you ask?
Step 1: Don’t shoot up any shopping malls.
Step 2: If anyone else starts shooting while you are in the mall, draw your carry gun and either escort others to safety, or engage with the shooter to bring the incident to an immediate halt.
I am not providing a phone number. How soon after will it get into the hands of some leftist NPC staffer who hands it off to Antifa or BLM?
You don’t have a burner number from Google?
Just curious about the nom de plume. “J Noble Daggett” is the name of a lawyer character in John Wayne’s “True Grit.”
This is EXCELLENT advice.
I worked as an intern (but I knew stuff!) in a congressional office, and this is how you get through.
Don’t be ‘Jew Hating Joe’ who called every Friday and would ramble on, even after being on hold for 5 minutes. He was the only one that we were allowed to ignore… all others were noted.
PS: Not many people actually called on an issue back then, and even fewer wrote a letter. FAXes were unheard of. The more effort given, the more attention given.
Does anyone note the irony of a congressional staffer using an obvious phony name telling you to include your real name, address, phone number, etc?
I’ve written my rep and senators… Elaine Luria and the double butt monkey pair of Kaine and Warner. Obviously in return I received the form letters informing what a great job they’re and their gun control policies are doing, even after the record breaking massive pro-2A protest in Richmond. Even after that 50,000 to 30 ratio (for those that weren’t aware, the Bloomberg counter protest managed a massive 30ish red shirt moms; but I do give credit to their perseverance…not much else though).
But that killed it for me. If that wasn’t enough of a wake-up call, then what would be? I gave up since not only do they not care what anyone or any data says, but I’m pretty sure no one even reads it past the first sentence or two to at least get a glimpse of what we have to say. I’d rather just work another hour or two of OT and give it to FPC then spend the time to write out a letter to send (or email). Maybe if one of them was actually somewhat neutral and/or reasonable it would be worth it.
Quite saying it’s a waste of time and stop sitting on you arss doing nothing and then complain about the out come. I’m in Kalifornia and I voice my position every time and I will not give up.