18. Petitions

	``CONSTITUTIONS ARE CHECKS UPON THE HASTY ACTION OF THE MAJORITY.
THEY ARE SELF-IMPOSED RESTRAINTS OF A WHOLE PEOPLE UPON A MAJORITY OF
THEM TO SECURE SOBER ACTION AND A RESPECT FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE
MINORITY.'' President William Howard Taft, veto of the Arizona Enabling
Act, August 22, 1911.

	Petitions have played a long and honorable role in the American
struggle for freedom. Besides helping to influence government, the
gathering of petitions is valuable in its own right, since it
stimulates debate and individual involvement. If done correctly,
petitions can also stimulate media interest.

	Like any other request to a government official, the petition
should ask the official to take a particular action.

	The message of the petition should be short enough to be easily
read in a few seconds by a person who is thinking of signing. The
message should be stated directly and forcefully. For example: ``We the
undersigned residents of Kansas support the right of law-abiding
persons to own the type of firearm best-suited to their needs. We urge
our representatives to vote against bans on semiautomatic firearms,
which have many legitimate uses for personal protection, hunting, and
target shooting.''

	And the message should not contain ideas or references that the
average person would not recognize. A petition isn't the place for
quotations from the Wright, Rossi, & Daly National Institute of
Justice study.

	Petitions are good when you have a large mass of enthusiastic
volunteers who have little experience. The petition gets the
volunteers into action, and creates community outreach and discussion.

	When Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he replied
``That's where the money is.'' To gather petitions, go where the people
is: colleges, busy downtown sidewalks, factory gates, parks, county
fairs, and other similar places.

	Remember that private property owners--including shopping mall
owners--have a right to exclude you. (A few states, including
California, require mall owners to make their space available to the
public for political activity.) And on public property, be careful not
to obstruct access to buildings, or to impede the flow of pedestrian
traffic.

	After someone signs the petition, hand him a leaflet, encouraging
further action. After all, by signing the petition, he's already
indicated that he's friendly. The leaflet might urge him to write or
call certain elected officials to voice his support on the issue
raised in the petition. The leaflet should supply the names, full
address, and telephone number of elected officials.

	If you get a large number of petitions, stage some kind of
dramatic presentation to their target, and invite the media along. And
since you've gone to all the work of gathering the petitions, bring
your own photographer along to record the presentation.

	Good occasions to present petitions to elected officials are when
you meet with the official, or when you testify at a public hearing,
or when the official attends a meeting of a pro-rights organization
you are affiliated with.

	While petitions have value, they are far from the most effective
way to influence elected officials. What officials look for in judging
public sentiment is depth of commitment. One person who makes the
personal effort to write a letter to Congress does more good than 15
people who sign petitions. (Likewise, sending in pre-printed postcards
is not a particularly powerful way to get a legislator's attention.)

	So in deciding whether to start a petition drive, consider how you
want to deploy your resources. If the folks out gathering petitions
from the public in general could instead be encouraging other pro-gun
folks to write actual letters, the time might be better spent on
letter generation. Still, petitions offer an opportunity to interact
with the public, and can be a lot of fun.