One
person said gun owners don't attend gun shows. He doesn't
know one gun owner that attends so the data can't be right.
Huh? Oh well.
Does
the data mean that only 5.6% of ALL California gun owners
are registered to vote? This is unknown. But 12,000 people
is one heck of a large sample size. It is probably representative
of the L.A. region. But, it is highly unlikely that San
Diego, San Francisco and other heavily populated metropolitan
areas have significantly varying numbers. Again, that's
pure speculation based on the results of the 56th AD. Some
of you are far better at speculation than I, based on some
of the email I received.
Some
of you couldn't understand how that data could be correlated
accurately using a PC, specifically a gun show list to a
voter registration list. Proclamations were then made that
the data is false and how dare we publish such information.
I'm always amused by people who draw different conclusions
from the data but offer nothing to back up their assumptions.
Let
me offer another scenario that some I know won't believe.
Split the 12,000 names sorted appropriately across ten people
armed with voter registration lists. The answer is provided
within several hours of hard work. The election was in November,
this is March. Do you think the Brantuk team had enough
time to do this manually with reasonable accuracy? Do you
really insist that a program must be written to sort the
data by a MAC or PC in order to determine the results? Using
that logic, the whole country must have been complete idiots
prior to the advent of PCs in the early 1980s. I can assure
you we were not.
If
you continue to have lingering doubts about whether gun
owners are on board, let me alleviate the internal pressure
from within your cranium. Volunteer to work at a GOA, GOC,
NRA or CRPA booth at a gun show with the express goal of
registering voters. If you don't want to go home discouraged
at the end of the day, it's not the thing to do. You won't
believe the number of people who will refuse to register,
and the unbelievable reasons they will give you why they
won't. And, no matter how much persuasion you use, they
will not budge an inch. I know, I've done it. You're lucky
if you can get 1 out of 100 to register. I received a number
of responses from people who have been equally frustrated
by their "get out the vote" efforts. It's dismal
to say the least.
Need
more proof that gun owners don't participate? It is estimated
there are at least 5 million people in California that own
firearms. If you think that's over-estimated, cut it in
half. Only about 60,000 belong to the California Rifle and
Pistol Association. There are some 76 million gun owners
in this country. Some number less than six million belong
to ANY pro-gun organization. Do the math. It's clear that
most gun owners are completely oblivious to what's going
on, or simply don't care. A small minority are pulling the
wagon for the rest of them. I want them off the wagon and
helping to pull the load!
Every
pro-gun organization has done sampling of voter registration
records to their membership rolls. The number registered
to vote is horribly low. If the pro-gun organization is
honest with you, they'll tell you the truth. It isn't good.
Pro-gun organizations wouldn't waste their money every election
trying to get their own members to register and vote. They
wouldn't have to spend good money preaching to the choir.
They know a huge number aren't registered. But based on
your email responses to my last article, a lot of you out
there just aren't buying it. That's your opinion. You can
certainly believe what you want. However, you are wrong
and I defy anyone out there to come up with the data that
would prove otherwise. It doesn't exist, at least not in
the large metro areas of California.
And
now, for the clincher. Los Angeles had an election March
4. The voter turnout was abysmal. 13% of registered voters
made it to the polls. About 185,000 went to the polls out
of 1.4 million registered voters. It's fair to say with
all the anti-gun nonsense going on at the L.A. City Council
recently, gun owners could have owned this election. The
sad part of this is, not only did they not show up, hardly
anyone showed up. And the people who did, put into office
some of the most liberal anti-gun jerks one can imagine
by large margins. Does the name Antonio Villaraigosa ring
a bell? He was only one of the most rabid anti-gun Assembly
Leaders ever to preside over the California Assembly. As
of March 4, he's now a new L.A. City councilman. Do you
think the pro-gun vote came out in droves when only 13%
of registered voters went to the polls? Obviously not. And
please, don't tell me there was no one else to vote for.
ANYONE would have been better than this clown.
Why
did former state Assemblyman Rod Wright, running for the
10th Council District in L.A., end up third with only 2100
votes? He's pro-gun to the hilt and a Democrat on top of
it all! Where were the gun owners in a district that only
mustered about 16,000 people to the polls? If the pro-gun
vote went to the polls, Rod Wright would be on the L.A.
City Council.
If
the March 4 L.A. election is not illustrative of the problem
we have with gun owners, at least in the L.A. area, I don't
know what is.
To
those who said the information is a lie or wrong: First,
I don't lie. Secondly, if I screw up and publish bad information,
I'll retract it as I have in the past. I'll make it available
to everyone and I will take the heat quite deservedly. But
folks, I don't lie. Everyone that knows me will back that
up. I had a boss tell me once: "Weller, you're just
too damn honest." I consider his criticism a badge
of honor.
Lastly,
to the person who said on one hand gun owners vote, but
doubt that gun owners would sign up on a gun show mailing
list because they are deeply distrustful of lists... you
answered the problem in a nutshell. The same people who
will say, 'oh not me, I'm not going register and be on a
government list'... walk around with a driver's license
and a social security card in their wallets and pay taxes
every year. They routinely clean their handguns for which
California has a record of the purchase if purchased since
1979. And their response is 'I don't want to be on a government
list.' Good grief! Trying to get people to vote assumes
you're talking with someone that has at least half their
brain intact.
Press
me with data folks, not your feelings. If you want feelings,
hang around with liberals. The bottom line is this: A lot
of gun owners aren't voting. They're either paranoid, ignorant
of what's going on, don't care anymore, dropped out, or
lazy. It may not be as bad in all regions of the state as
some of you have speculated. But one thing is for certain:
The L.A. region isn't going to win any patriot awards. The
city elections results of March 4, 2003 back that up.
To
win the battle statewide, we need gun owners in the major
metro areas to do their part. The rural areas of California
simply don't have the numbers to overcome the liberals in
the cities. Gun owning urban dwellers need to get involved
in the process of voting. One overwhelming statement made
by a number of you from the rural areas of California, and
I'm paraphrasing, was: 'We vote early and often in the rural
counties, but the cities hold the destiny of California.'
Without help from the cities, gun ownership itself will
be challenged in the legislature by 2010. I know that's
a target set by anti-gun factions. They want this state
gun-free, or nearly so, by 2010. They are certainly well
on their way to achieving it. We must stop it in the voting
booth.
Do something
useful with your life. Register, then vote!
Your comments
are welcome: rweller@cris.com
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