Shooting Sports Retailer - July/August 2010

RICKSapp
• down range
Embracing the World
According to Mao

otic place, and humans have always been a chaotic species. That is never going to change. With billions on the planet, we must therefore have some government—and even primitive societies have mechanisms to limit the extremes of behavior. Where we principally disagree is the location and nature of those boundaries.

What makes America a great nation is not our nuclear weapons or our financial prosperity. What makes us great is our ability to live with philosophical contradictions thoughtfully and peacefully; political candidates can express their opinions without fear of retaliation. And this is precisely where the shooting sports retailer can play a larger and more vital role…host-ing a political reception and fund-raiser, and supporting a candidate who will in turn support our right to self-protection, to sit at the dining room table and clean our . 38.

Most folks I know vote; a few even donate to campaigns. A few is not enough. Hosting a political event and especially a fund-raiser is a supreme way to exercise your free speech, arguably our most precious liberty. It is as if we gun lovers embraced the famous quotation of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong—“ Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”—and stood it on its democratic head.

Of course we are NRA members and through the larger organization, we are able to influence national and state politics, but on the local level the sporting goods store or gun shop can be a vital political nexus to promote what we believe in.

Ideally, a store can host a fund-
raiser but this may rarely be practi-
cal. A hundred people in your place
of business shaking hands and
drinking cokes and eating hotdogs
may not be safe, but many business-
es now have classrooms, ranges or
shooting lanes where a lot of people
can gather to hear a short campaign
speech and develop a sense of com-
munity.

What is the cost for hosting candidates on the city and county level? Probably not too much considering the long term effects of electing hostile candidates. On the other hand, with resources tight it is as much a matter of time and energy as simple cash.

If you budget a thousand dollars and bring in suitable beans and barbecue for a couple political candidates, advertise it in flyers, signs and product stuffers, create a sense of urgency for the coming election, and develop a staff of volunteers, it is my belief that the economics will come out in your favor every time. You will create so much good will among the gun public and with candidates that your efforts will rebound to your profitability in both short- and long-term.

And should you invite or not simply invite, but go out of the way to encourage the competition, the anti-gun candidate to attend? Absolutely! The possibility that he or she will be influenced or change a position is slim, but they will learn that you and your customers are essential parts of the community.

Remember that it is easier to demonize someone you don’t know or understand, easier to vilify by letter or email, but once we meet the “ enemy” and realize that he or she is in most respects just like us, we pave the way for civil discourse. -SSR

Comment? Write to:
SSREditor@klapublishing.com

The world is divided between those who trust government and those who do not. Deeper psychologies must be at work.

I admit to being a flip-flopper. One day I’m a Florida gun-totin liberal supporting President Obama, ready to lash out at Big Oil and trade the pick-up for a Prius, and at the same time want the NRA to take its next convention to Phoenix to defend the Arizona stance on immigration.

All of us, Rush Limbaugh to Di-anne Feinstein, live with these philosophical contradictions. We also live with government, lots of government, and distasteful as it may be, retailers in the shooting sports business ought to get involved in the process of governing.

Even as I clean my . 38 revolver at the kitchen table, I listen to radio news and hear political candidates who want to take away my right to defend myself. (In my state, and perhaps also in yours, if we are in a legal place and acting in a legal manner, we do not have to run away from someone who wants to harm or rob me or my family. If they break into my home or car we may legally presume they intend harm.)

These particular candidates believe that a world flooded with guns will result in chaos, and they therefore position themselves as anti-gun (or at the very least anti-handgun and anti-“assault rifle”). They typically believe that government needs to prohibit our ability to own or use or enjoy whatever it is they don’t agree with: guns, smoking, danc-ing…. I hear that. I support their right to believe it and discuss it. I just can’t agree with it. These candidates are not necessarily evil or stupid, just wrong.