Introduction

``IF JUST ONE TENTH OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO OWN GUNS WOULD
RAISE THEIR VOICES TO THE POLITICIANS, OR CONTRIBUTE A SMALL AMOUNT OF
THEIR TIME AND MONEY, WE COULD STOP THE BAN-THE-GUN CROWD.'' Former
California State Assemblyman Tom McClintock

	If you own a gun, you can defend yourself against a criminal
attack. But how can you defend yourself against people who want to
take away your right to even own a gun?  This book tells you how.

	In the struggle over the right to bear arms, the gun
prohibitionists start with a tremendous organizational advantage. The
anti-gun movement is hierarchical--that is, its direction comes from
the top down. A few professional strategists decide the issue of the
year: how a waiting period will supposedly stop drug dealers from
getting guns (how about a waiting period for drugs, so they couldn't
get drugs either); how ``plastic handguns'' are being used by
terrorists (even though there's no such thing as a plastic handgun);
the record numbers of toddlers being killed in gun accidents (record
low, that is); the epidemic of mass murder by ``assault weapon''
(another gun control fib).

	From there, the gun control lobbies feed the story to their
ventriloquist dummies in the media, such as Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw.
The establishment media's contempt for gun owners is so intense that
the veracity of the story is of little import. Thus, a new issue is
born. Politicians who confuse media opinion with public opinion are
intimidated into enacting more and more severe restrictions on gun
owners.

	The right to bear arms movement, in contrast, works from the
grassroots up. We don't get hundred of millions of dollars in free
advertising (thinly disguised as news shows) from the media. The
strength of the right to bear arms movement comes almost entirely from
individual citizens who take up the burden of defending the rights of
all Americans. Thus, the battle is joined: the prohibition forces and
the media, versus ordinary citizens.

	Happily, ordinary citizens can do some things in large numbers
that Dan Rather can't: they can write letters to Congress; they can
vote gun prohibitionists out of office; and they can even push the
media to re-examine its attitudes. We can pass on a free society to
the next generations--if we will roll up our sleeves to do the hard
work of preserving liberty.

	Of course there are plenty of excuses for not getting
involved, like:

*       The NRA will take care of everything. The problem is that the
power of the NRA, and the rest of the pro-rights movement, is based on
grassroots strength.

*       Other people don't do their share, so why should I? Well, lots
of other people, including the folks we mention in this book, do their
share and a whole lot more.

*       The gun confiscators are going to win no matter what we do.
The gun control lobbies certainly want you to think that. But they're
wrong. In the last 20 years, America has become significantly more
urbanized. Yet in many states, the right to bear arms is stronger than
it was 20 years ago.

	The name of this book isn't ``The 500 Commandments.'' You
don't have to do everything suggested here; and unless you have 48
hours in a day, you couldn't anyway. While some of the ideas are very
simple to implement (e.g., register to vote, join the NRA), many
others take a lot of follow-through. For the more time-consuming
projects, take on just one or two at a time, starting with the ones
that best fit your inclinations and talents. As you gain experience in
the struggle for freedom, new ideas and projects will suggest
themselves.

	While these ideas are geared towards Second Amendment issues,
many of our suggestions are just as applicable to folks who are
fighting to protect other freedoms in the Bill of Rights. We hope this
book is useful to them as well.

EDUCATING YOURSELF,
AND OTHERS

	American writer Gertrude Stein once described her hometown
Oakland: ``When you get there, there isn't any there there.'' Gun
control is a lot like Oakland: There isn't any reality there. The
people who want to take your guns have loads of misplaced emotion,
prejudice, and disinformation to feed the press. But they're in short
supply of facts and statistics.

	This section details the public information side of the gun
rights debate: how to inform yourself about the issues, and how to
inform others.