By Gerard Valentino

As the Central Ohio Chair for the Buckeye Firearms Association I often get asked about what people can do to help fight for our 2nd Amendment rights. I always start my answer by inquiring whether the person asking is on a first name basis with their state and local elected representatives.

If not, that is where I suggest they begin.

Even though gun-rights might be vitally important to you as an individual there are countless other issues that deflect legislator’s attention from important gun legislation. Only by having a relationship with your elected official can you expect them to vote your way when it is time to vote for good gun legislation.

Educating your representative on the intricacies of the bill is also an important part of the equation. As already stated they have hundreds of other issues competing for their time. A piece of legislation that seems good on the surface might actually be damaging to gun owners. Unless you bring the issue to their attention it might go unnoticed causing them to vote the wrong way for the right reasons.

It is also vitally important that candidates friendly to the 2nd Amendment continue to win elections. Volunteering for a campaign or giving money to a pro-gun candidate is an excellent way to make sure the right legislators get elected.

Many state level campaigns are under funded and in need of good volunteers to stuff envelopes, knock on doors and make phone calls. It is boring work but is invaluable to most campaigns and gives you an immediate connection to your representative so you can cultivate an ongoing personal relationship.

So, if you know that your elected officials vote your rights make sure to be available during the campaign season to lend a hand. Even an hour a week can make a huge difference to the success or failure of their campaign. We’ve seen excellent candidates lose elections by less than 10 votes and know there were at least 10 gun owners in the area that wouldn’t volunteer for the campaign and also did not vote.

Another option is to donate money or volunteer to a help state level political action committee (PAC). A PAC can pool resources and make sure they are expended where needed the most. That way if you live in a strong pro-gun area the money can be transferred to a race that is closely contested. Volunteering for a pro-gun candidate that isn’t in your district should be a consideration as well because they are as vital to your rights as your own representative.

State level political action committees often lack the resources of national groups like the National Rifle Association or Gun Owners of America and are forced to scrape for every dollar. In Ohio we have a well funded anti-gun movement that can outspend our small state level groups by l0 fold during campaign season. They also have the ear of the establishment media which is decidedly anti-gun.

Though we hate to admit it there is a correlation between money and political influence although it’s not through direct donations. Money allows gun-rights groups create web-sites, pamphlets, educational programs and information campaigns that can counteract the misinformation put out by the anti-gun movement. The truth is an ally to our side so the more accurate information that is disseminated the better our chances become for swaying public opinion.

Finally, to help the movement gun-owners need to learn how the political process works and need to understand that just because we’re right that doesn’t mean we will win every election or legislative vote.

Many politicians simply refuse to listen so keeping our message civil, professional and yet staying aggressive is difficult. Provocative tactics should be the last resort because that is what the anti-gunners want so they can portray us as irrational and irresponsible members of society.

We know gun-owners are predominately peaceful, law-abiding people and that is the side legislators, reporters and the general public needs to see.

If every gun-owner took an active role in defending our rights the pro-gun movement would be an unbeatable political force. During the fight for concealed carry in Ohio the governor’s office received 25 times more pro-gun letters than anti-gun letters which forced Governor Bob Taft to sign right-to-carry legislation.

Governor Taft was successful, however, in poisoning the legislation with provisions dangerous to law-abiding citizens. Now we must recreate the movement that fought to get the law passed so it can be fixed. Had every gun-owner taken an active role in getting our first law enacted our chances to get a better law the first time would have been much improved.

As a group we need to learn from our mistakes and double our efforts to get viable concealed carry legislation passed this session. Several legislators put their reputation on the line to fight for our right to carry – now we need to do our part.

Gerard Valentino is the Buckeye Firearms Association Central Ohio Chair

For more information on how you can help, see Buckeye Firearms Association's Grassroots Action Guide
.