30. Start Your Own Group

``DISPERSE YOU REBELS; DAMN YOU, THROW DOWN YOUR ARMS AND DISPERSE.''
British Major John Pitcairn's futile order to the American patriots at
Lexington, April 19, 1775.

	Starting a pro-rights group can be a wonderful experience; you'll
work hard, succeed sometimes, fail other times, and do your country a
tremendous service. But before you leap, it's important to take a hard
look, and realistically analyze what you want to do and what you can
do. Assess yourself, and whether you're ready to put the time and
emotional commitment into starting the group from scratch. While
organizing the group may be somewhat easier than founding your own
small business (you won't starve if the group flounders), you will
face many of the same enormous challenges.

	You must be prepared to handle the virtual certainty of failure.
Not the failure of the group as a whole, since it's likely that the
group will succeed, and will do some worthwhile projects. But along
the way, it is inevitable that you will run into blind alleys,
misguided projects, and more snafus than you imagined could happen at
once. Any human enterprise--especially one involving a lot of humans--is
bound to encounter all sorts of unexpected disasters. When setbacks
happen, take them in stride, learn from experience, and move on. If
you're not comfortable with taking chances and failing some of the
time, then you won't be able to create the opportunities to take
chances and succeed other times.

	Realistically assess how much time you can put into the
organization month after month.

	Set moderate goals you can reach. It's like an exercise program.
If you start off intent to do a 200 pushups a day, you may not meet
the goal, and may give up from discouragement. But if you start with
20 a day, and when 20 become easy you do 30 a day, and so on, then
after a while, you may be doing 300 pushups one-handed!

	Finally, be professional. Remember the importance of first
impressions. Dress neatly. Keep your appointments, start meetings on
time, mail out literature when you say you will.

	In building a group, follow-up is essential. Send thank you notes,
keep a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers of interested
people, and invite them to meetings. If a member puts in extraordinary
effort, let Alan know, and he'll send your member a certificate of
appreciation.

Name

	In general, it's better to be for something than against. So
consider a name that emphasizes what you're for (freedom) rather than
what you're against (gun control). Look at the list of local
organizations (chapter 28) for some examples of positive, upbeat
names.

Meetings

	Unless meetings are held in your own home, book your meeting rooms
at least four weeks ahead of time. A few days before the meeting, call
to reconfirm your reservation. If you always have meetings at the same
time and place (``2d Sunday of every month, at 7:30 p.m.''), then it's
easier for people to remember to attend.

	Gun clubs, apartment party rooms, libraries, schools, community
recreation centers, and churches are all good choices for a meeting
site. A private room in a restaurant is also possible, but any unless
the prices are very modest, some potential members may not attend
because their budgets are tight.

	In many urban areas, people don't want to drive all the way back
downtown for an evening meeting. So have the meeting at a convenient
suburban location in an area where you have a lot of active members.

	It's true that the members who live in suburbs on the other side
of town will have to drive even further than they would to a downtown
meeting. But if they were willing to drive downtown, they'll probably
be willing to drive ten minutes further. And in the suburb that's
hosting the meeting, you may get several more attendees who wouldn't
have showed up for something a long distance away.

	When the group is starting out (and this goes for booking rooms
for speeches too), get a room slightly smaller than you expect to
need. Fifteen people who show up in a room that can set a hundred may
feel that there aren't enough other people to make group participation
viable; fifteen people in a room built for twelve will feel that the
energy in the group is growing by leaps and bounds.

	The small rooms rule, like all the other rules in this book, is
not an absolute. If you're having a strategy meeting with ten key
volunteers, get a room that holds ten people, not seven.

	Show up early for meetings, and make sure that everything is in
working order. If the meeting is in your home, serve light
refreshments.

	Have plenty of free literature (see chapter 1) on hand.

	Supply name tags for meetings, and make sure to greet newcomers
with a handshake and a sincere smile. Introduce new people to the
veterans (or have everybody introduce themselves). Do everything you
can to make everybody feel comfortable.

	When recruiting new members, remember that high school and college
students (whose minds are still open), middle to upper income people
aged 30 to 50 (who are generally pro-rights), and small businessmen
(who know the perils of excessive government) are often especially
interested in pro-rights issues.

	At the meeting, pass around a sign-in list for people's names,
address, and phone number. Before the next meeting, call through the
list, reminding people about the date, time, and location of the next
meeting, and inviting them to attend. The calling can be
time-consuming, but the personal touch really does make a difference.

	When the meeting is finished, ask people what they liked and
didn't like, and ask one-on-one for suggestions for future meeting
topics.

	And lastly, if the group is productive, but the meetings aren't,
stop holding meetings, and put the energy that you were using to
organize meetings into other projects for the group.

Committees

	An effective grassroots group may simply be three people. Such a
small group has little need for formal structure; it just needs to get
each member going on projects for which the particular member is
suited.

	Larger groups, though, may need more structure. One effective way
to build structure is through committees. A committee consists of a
chair--chosen for her reliability and ability to get things done--and as
many committee members are necessary. Committees focus on one
particular area of responsibility. Some of the committees your group
might use are:

o 	Communications Committee. Works on newsletters for members and
other interested people. Informs members of actions by the
organization. Coordinates letter-writing campaigns to elected
officials. Runs the phone tree/phone circle (see chapter 20).

o 	Logistics Committee. Organizes meeting times and places, and
informs members of upcoming meetings. Also keeps close watch on the
legislative calendars of relevant local governments, and informs
members about local government meetings involving gun issues.

o 	Finance Committee. Raises funds for the organization. In addition
to soliciting the membership, and raising funds at gun shows, the
committee can also ask for help from sympathetic local businesses,
such as gun stores. Fundraising is generally more successful when
donors know that the money will be used for a specific project, or
will have a clear tangible value. For example, next to the donation
can at your information table write out: ``$15 will pay for printing
for one thousand educational flyers''

o 	Press Committee. Drafts news releases, keeps a list of addresses
for local media, calls and writes media to inform them of upcoming
events. Some Press Committee tips are offered later in this chapter.

	The organizational structure above is just an outline. Don't feel
constrained to stick with it if another type of committee organization
would work best for your group. Each group's organization should be
flexible, to reflect the particular abilities of its members.

Membership Lists

	Speaking of lists, your organization will likely end up compiling
a list of people in the area who are interested in gun rights. Some
people who sign up will feel very strongly about not being put in a
database someplace, or having their name given out. Respect their
wishes.

Recruiting New Members

	Emphasize benefits, not features. If you've got a table at a gun
show, and are trying to raise individual contributions, point out how
your group can benefit the donor (e.g., ``we're working to defeat the
semiautomatic ban that the anti-gun lobbies are pushing in the
legislature''). Don't emphasize features, which may not interest your
donor (e.g., ``our group was founded in 1990'').

	At legislative hearings and other gatherings related to gun
control, circulate a sign-up sheet in the audience, asking for names,
addresses, and phone numbers of people who would like to work together
to fight gun control.

	Because you'll be operating on a financial shoestring, every
source of revenue will be important, and no revenue source will be as
important as memberships. Set the dues high enough to cover your cost
of recruiting, and to leave something extra for your operating
expenses. Twenty or twenty-five dollars would be about right.

	Do not prorate your dues for what part of the year they come in.
If your annual dues are $20, don't in July sell a ten dollar
membership that expires at the end of the year. Instead, make
memberships good for one full year. If it's much easier
administratively for you to have all memberships expire at the end of
the year, offer people who sign up late in the year some kind of
premium, but still collect the full dues amount. (E.g., in July, sell
a $20 membership that expires in December, and throw in a free t-shirt
as a bonus.)

	Consider selling multiyear memberships at a discount. The
multiyear memberships are helpful because you don't have to worry
about renewal, don't have to spend any resources encouraging renewal,
and you get a good sum of cash right up front. So if annual dues are
$25, then offer a two-year membership for $40. You'll probably need to
be around for a couple years before people are willing to invest in
three or five year memberships.

Membership Cards and Paraphernalia

	People liking having some tangible token of their membership.
During your organization's first six months, new members can have the
added distinction of being ``charter members,'' a fact which the
membership card should recognize.

	If you know someone who can volunteer some graphic design
services, ask them to create an attractive logo for your group. And
think up a good slogan that the group can put on its membership cards,
newsletter, and other materials.

	Besides membership cards, you may also want to create t-shirts,
bumper stickers, buttons, and similar accessories. Members will enjoy
wearing them; non-members will enjoy buying them, and everybody who
has one will be a walking advertisement for the group.

	Before selling anything, check with your city, county, or state
Department of Revenue (or Tax Bureau), and find out the rules
regarding sales tax.

	For these products--and for everything else you do-- it's best to
take things one step at a time. Instead of ordering 500 t-shirts,
order 20, and see how they sell, see how well the supplier meets your
needs, and see if it's a small project that shows potential for
becoming a larger project, or if it was an experiment that should be
abandoned for more productive endeavors.

	If plan to do a mailing to recruit new members, it's conventional
wisdom in the direct mail business that self-addressed envelopes more
than pay for themselves. If you make it easy for people to mail you
money, they're more likely to do so.

	In the long run, the cheapest self-addressed envelopes are the
Business Reply Mail type. The Post Office charges a you premium to
deliver these. But since you only pay for the envelopes that people
actually send back to you, the cost savings can be substantial. Check
with your local Post Office for the detailed requirements for using
Business Reply Mail.

	You don't have to get stationary or business cards right away, but
when you do so, make sure they look professional.

Personal Skills

	Here's the most important tip: Listen more than you talk. People
will help your pro-rights efforts for their reasons, not for your
reasons. Listen carefully to what interests them, and then suggest how
your group is supporting their interests. Emphasize areas of
agreement, rather than disagreement. If you're leafleting a shopping
mall, and somebody takes your literature, and says ``I think that
people need guns for protection, but I don't see what's wrong with a
waiting period,'' you don't need to engage him in a debate about
waiting periods. Instead, talk about how your group is working to
promote the right to have guns for self-protection (such as by
supporting a concealed carry bill, or by opposing gun prohibitions).
It's more important to win allies than to win debates, so save your
arguments for another day.

	In discussions among your group, and in everything you do with the
group, don't act like the great dictator. The more you encourage other
people to talk and to make decisions, the more involved they'll want
to be.

	Unskilled as your volunteers may be, they won't stay volunteers
long if you just put them at a desk and make them stuff envelopes. The
really tedious work should be shared by everyone (especially you) in
``work party'' atmosphere, with ample beer and refreshments on hand.

	And while you're encouraging people to work hard, make things fun.
Consider what we know about life in the military: People join the
military for many reasons, including ideological reasons and
patriotism. But when soldiers are running across open fields under
hostile fire, or sleeping in foxholes, their motivation doesn't have
much to do with ideology. The soldiers who perform the best in combat
are those who are part of a cohesive unit. When you're under fire,
your desire to save your buddy's life by pulling him out of a ditch is
a lot more important at motivating action than your attitude towards
the Bill of Rights.

	 Similarly (sort of), volunteers will come to your organization
because of their ideological support for freedom. But the most
important factor in determining whether they will develop into
long-term, active volunteers is whether they form friendships with
other folks in the group.

	Accordingly, make sure that your meetings have plenty of
opportunity for socializing. Just asking people to drive downtown,
listen to a speech, and then leave, isn't going to promote
camaraderie. Having a cocktail hour before the meeting, or beer and
pretzels afterward, or making the meeting itself a potluck supper are
among the ways to promote conversation. You can also have parties
without a formal meeting, and urge members to bring friends and
family.

	People thrive on praise and recognition, so distribute them out
generously. If people take on projects, give them a title. The woman
who volunteers to write the press release can become the Media
Relations Director, and the guy who drops off the press release at all
15 radio stations can be the Assistant Media Director. These titles
aren't meant to be grandiose, but to reflect the training you'll be
giving, to help people build skills, and take on more and more
responsibility themselves.

	In fact, your most important contribution as a leader will be to
help other people develop the skills and confidence to take on
responsibility and leadership themselves.

	When big projects are completed, hand out the praise and
recognition for those who helped. If you're holding a press
conference, early in your remarks thank by name the volunteers who
made it happen.

Advisory Council

	A group's credibility is enhanced if it has the support of
well-known civic leaders. If there are some local elected officials,
university professors, business leaders, religious leaders, or similar
folks who would support your group's pro-rights objectives, invite
them to serve on the group's Advisory Council. Your letterhead can
include a list of Advisory Council members.

	And what does the Advisory Council actually do? First of all, you
should turn to it for advice. The reason that your Advisory Council
members have become prominent in the community is that they're good at
something. Take advantage of their experience. (You don't need to call
the Council together as a formal body; a telephone call to a
particular Council member will be fine.)

	Perhaps over time, the Advisory Council members will grow even
more enthusiastic about the pro-rights cause, and be interested in
taking a more active role. Council members might serve as
spokespersons for the group, or help with fundraising.

	As always, be flexible, and adapt our suggestions to your
particular circumstances. For example, if two State Senators--but
nobody else--volunteer to serve as advisors to your group, you don't
really have enough people to create an ``Advisory Council.'' So make the
two Senators ``Honorary Chairpersons'' of the group. The Senators might
even be so pleased with their lofty title that they'd help you send
out a press release announcing their new role.

Affiliations with Larger Groups

	Affiliation doesn't mean that you simply become a local chapter of
the national group. Rather, your independent local group maintains a
link with national group, in order that the two groups can share
information and expertise

	Affiliating with a national pro-rights organization can give you a
tremendous leg up in learning the basics of organizing activists. You
can benefit from the national organization's years of experience, and
avoid learning the hard way about mistakes other activists have made.
The Citizens' Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (Alan's
group) is particularly eager to work with local activists.

	National groups are also likely to have campaigns in progress that
you can join.

New Chapters?

	Inspired by your success, activists in other cities may ask if
they can form area chapters of your group. If you feel comfortable
with them, sign them up. But in the long run (or maybe even the short
run), your goal should be for them to form their own group. To help
them, offer to share all the expertise and resources you have to get
them get started.

	Two groups in different cities can still coordinate their
activities, but each group will get more done if its energy is
concentrated in actual work, rather than in managing a multi-city
structure.

Newsletter

	Once a group gets established, it's a good idea to publish a
newsletter. Once a month is a common interval. The newsletter can be
as simple as an 8 1/2 x 11 inch flyer, or much more elaborate.
Newsletters are great to hand out at gun shows; they help bring in new
members, and help alert everyone about projects, elections, and
legislative issues.

	Newsletters need not look like 4-color glossy corporate reports,
but neither should their look like they were produced on a mimeograph
machine that saw its best days during the Eisenhower administration.
With today's advances in computers and desktop publishing, it's not to
hard to put together a nice-looking newsletter that conveys the sense
of organization and efficiency that will attract new members.

	The title should be closely linked to the name of your group. If
your group is the ``East Orange Public Safety Association,'' call the
newsletter the ``East Orange Public Safety Association Newsletter.''
True, it would be more glamorous to call the newsletter ``The
Liberator,'' but since you're trying to build name recognition for your
group, you need to make it very easy for people (even people who
aren't careful readers) to associate the newsletter with the group.

	Every newsletter should include a blank form for new members to
fill out in order to join. The blank form can ask people which areas
they would be most interested in helping in:

``Please check all of the following which interest you:

___Handing out leaflets or manning tables at gun  shows

___Making phone calls to voters in support of pro-gun candidates

___Putting up yard signs for pro-gun candidates

___Having a sign in your own yard.''

	Every newsletter should list the names, addresses, and phone
numbers of your two US Senators, the US Representatives in your area,
and other public officials to whom you are encouraging people to
write. And every newsletter should encourage people to take specific
actions (writing a letter, registering to vote, etc.) in whatever
battle is going on at the moment.

	If the newsletter will be mailed, make it a self-mailer. One side
of a folded sheet of the newsletter contains space for the addressee,
thereby obviating the need for a separate envelope.

	The news that goes in your newsletter can include updates on
events in Washington, DC and your state capital, details of your
group' s recent meetings and activities, local news relating to the
gun issue, facts about guns and gun control, reprints of pertinent
material from other publications (telephone to get permission first),
and announcements of forthcoming shooting events.

	And don't neglect to tell folks what the anti-gun people are up
to. Most gunowners are like the militia members of the American War
for Independence. When the threat is close at hand, they'll fight with
vigor and determination. But when trouble seems far away, they don't
take much interest in public affairs. And since the mainstream media
doesn't always slot gun control stories into the limited space
available, terrible anti-gun bills may be moving through Congress or
your state legislature, and most gun-owners may have no idea that
there is a danger.

	In the newsletter (as elsewhere) be generous in praise for people
who have helped with the group.

	Legislators, being human (usually), like praise just as much as
everyone else--more so, in fact, since they keep their jobs only as
long as they stay popular. So use the newsletter to give full
recognition to public officials who have voted for or otherwise helped
the pro-rights cause. If the legislator gave a good speech on the
floor of the legislator when she voted for the bill, reprint the
speech in your newsletter.

	While all legislators are hungry for praise, urban Congresspeople
are especially hungry. In many states, including California, North
Carolina, Florida, and New York, Congressional districts are twisted,
bizarre oddities that run in thin strips from county to another to
another, turn, and then veer off for the next county at a strange
angle. These gerrymandered monstrosities mean that the Representative
elected to the district does not represent a single town, or a
cohesive group of neighborhoods, but instead represents disparate
slices of several towns, or freakish slices of various neighborhoods.
The result of all this is that the Congressman may have a hard time
getting attention from the home-town newspaper, since he doesn't
represent any full town. Consequently, the Congressman is all the
hungrier for good publicity wherever he can find it--and your
newsletter should supply it.

Awards

	Besides giving pro-rights legislators good coverage in your
newsletter, you may want to give an annual award to an outstanding
legislator or two. The award can be announced at an annual dinner (if
your group has one), or similar occasion. Or the award can simply be
mailed to the legislator, along with a nice cover letter. An engraved
wall plaque will be appreciated, especially by state and local
officials. The inscription on the plaque could read something like
this:

OUTSTANDING LEGISLATOR OF THE YEAR

presented to

State Representative

Walter E. Dilworthy

for his energetic and devoted

work in defense of

the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

March 22, 1990

Central Outerway Citizens for Safety

Leafleting and Information Tables

	Places to hand out leaflets include any large public area, such as
fairs, shopping malls, museums, government buildings, colleges, office
buildings, factories, and especially college student unions.
Door-to-door leafleting is also possible, but make sure that
volunteers don't put leaflets into mail boxes. The United States
Postal Service zealously guards its mail monopoly, and putting
material without a stamp into a mailbox is a fast road to ruin. (We
don't make the rules; we're just letting you know.)

	Set up an information table at a shopping mall (ask permission
first) or a public event such as a street fair. Posters, banners, and
the like help draw attention to the table. Or just hand out literature
there. When handing out literature, make sure to emphasize that it's
free.

	Shopping malls, like other places which are private property, have
a right to exclude you, in most states. If the mall security officer
tells you to stop leafleting, respect the mall owners' property
rights.

	Smiles are always important when meeting the public, but they're
particularly helpful when leafleting.

	Everything in a leaflet (like everything else you put in print)
should be backed up with authoritative sources that you can document.

	Information tables are good places to encourage letter-writing.
Bring a list of the relevant addresses, and a healthy supply of
stationary and pens. (See also chapter 17, on computer-generated
letters.) Public areas are also good places to collect signatures on
petitions.

	If you can, bring a television and VCR, and keep pro-rights tapes
playing.

	And after you're done with the day's literature distribution,
police the entire area to pick up any material of yours that might
have been littered on the premises. Going out of your way to be a
considerate guest raises your chances of being allowed to come back.

	Information tables can also raise a little money by selling
t-shirts, buttons, and the like. The NRA and  the Citizens Committee
for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms have a good supply of merchandise
that they make available at wholesale prices to grassroots groups.

Media

	One of your main objectives will be to get media coverage of your
group's activities, so as to bring your message to many more people
than you could through direct contacts.

	Make a list of media contacts in your area, and keep it updated.
The list should include not only media addresses, but also the names
of the reporters and editorial writers who keep doing stories about
gun issues. Since a media career requires frequently changes of
assignment--and of employer--keep the list fresh.

	Don't snub the small papers in your area (like the give-away
weeklies). They're much easier to get coverage in than are large urban
dailies.

	Remember that the news media exist to cover news. Just
articulating a position isn't newsworthy. Taking action (especially
the kind of action that creates interesting photos) is newsworthy.

	Anytime you're trying to get the local press to cover something,
make sure it has a local angle. Even if the issue is a national rather
than a local one, find a local angle on it. For example, while the
Congressional debate on banning so-called ``assault weapons'' is a
national issue, the fact that a local gun club is using them in a
tournament is a local angle.

	Never say anything to any journalist that you don't want to see in
print. Many journalists will keep a promise of confidentiality, or of
being ``off-the-record,'' but some don't.

	Strive to make yourself useful to the local media. Provide them
with useful, accurate information. Everything the media ask from you,
they will ask on short notice, because the reporters themselves are
under time deadlines. Help the reporters out by being able to fit with
their schedules, by suggesting additional sources for them to
interview, and by remembering that while the media as a whole may be
biased, every individual reporter should be treated with respect.

	Once your quotes start appearing in print and broadcast reports,
your influence will be magnified. Not only will you be reaching larger
audiences, elected officials will begin to see the media take your
group seriously, and may start to do the same themselves.

Finances

	As the above sections on fundraising ideas have indicated, money
will always be tight. At the same time, the group's finances may be
closely watched by government regulators. So keep close track of your
finances, right from the start.

	 Believe it or not, while you'll be poor, many folks will think
that you're rich, because they've fallen for the myth that ``the gun
lobby'' is made out of cash.

Elections

	Chapter 23 contains detailed advice for how to participate in
elections effectively.

	Finally, don't be afraid to ask for help. The Citizens Committee
for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms would be glad to offer you advice
on anything you need. And your NRA State Liaison--while usually very
busy--will also be eager to help grassroots organizations. The NRA also
has staff assigned full-time to assisting grassroots groups. Your
local bookstore's or library's business section will have several
advice books on how to run a non-profit association.