To go straight to WND's article you can click the link below or read the article as text in the body below:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty_com/20000_211_xcjod_are_we_goi.shtml
ARE WE GOING TO LET THIS DIE TOO? by Jon E. Dougherty © 2000 WorldNetDaily.com For too many years, too many Americans have been killed, wounded, maimed and scarred for life because too many politicians are too willing to pass too many anti-gun laws. I admire the work of the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms, and other groups; but one organization that -- to me -- has demonstrated more guts and gumption than many of these groups combined is Citizens of America, the California-based pro-firearms rights group that has produced a number of effective, targeted pro-gun advertisements. That's a pretty powerful statement, but let me tell you something -- the time to be civil and polite and PC when it comes to defending our right to keep and bear arms is over. Here's a clue: The PC crowd, the establishment media and hundreds of politicians nationwide don't care how "civil" and "polite" gun supporters are. They hate us anyway. They hate our guns; and most of all, they hate the fact that they haven't been able to ban all of our guns outright. Yet. They're still trying and will continue to try until they succeed. That's how liberal statists behave; they keep gnawing at your rights until finally, eventually, they get their way, and to hell with the Constitution or the law of the land. Now, after only several months and after having a substantial effect with limited resources, COA is in danger of going broke. When you're a national advocacy group, getting enough funding is a hard thing to do; the problem is compounded when you're offering your research and expertise for free. Being a pro-gun national advocacy group makes securing funding even more difficult, if not outright impossible - at least from the traditional high-dollar foundations and philanthropists, most of whom are ultra-socialist. Regular readers of my column may remember that I wrote a piece describing COA, their plan of action, and some of their commercial spots back in October 1999. I wrote enthusiastically about COA's "assault advertising" approach to fighting the gun lies of the left, and encouraged readers to bombard the organization with contributions -- something I really don't like to do nor encourage very often. I even sent in my own $20. Now, after receiving an appeal from Brian Puckett for more funding -- else he may have to shut down the organization -- I am asking readers to dig into their pockets one more time. Again, my $20 is on the way. Brian didn't send this request specifically to me nor did he ask me to write this column. As in the first column, I am doing this because I believe in COA's no-compromise, hit-'em-where-it-hurts style of promoting gun rights. The commercials this group has produced are very professional; I know -- I used to write, voice and produce radio commercials myself. More than anything, COA's spots are honest. They depict real-life scenarios that ordinary (and unarmed) Americans face every single day -- the clogged 911 systems, the slow police responses, the hoods in the dark alleys, the dangerous criminals stalking our kids. COA also puts the political elite on the spot: One commercial rhetorically asks why ordinary Americans are denied access to firearms while the arrogant political class enjoys armed taxpayer protection in the form of paid bodyguards and police officers. These commercials have impact. They make sense. They leave no doubt that unarmed and vulnerable, average Americans are more at risk from harm by the criminal element than if we were all allowed unfettered use of our Second Amendment rights. COA also supports the latest factual evidence -- studies that show that the more people who own and carry firearms, the safer our society is. Make no mistake, friends -- the fight to take guns away from us is set to heat up again. During his State of the Union undress, President Clinton shocked many gun owners and gun industry executives, as well as several congressmen, when he announced he would be pushing for an expanded role for the BATF and federal law enforcement officers to crack down on illegal guns, which is just political code for finding new ways to take guns away from honest people. COA understands the very real sense of urgency here and their no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners approach to publicly defend our gun rights deserves our support. Now; not later. In fact, there may be no later. It'd be nice if the other established gun rights groups would kick some dough over to Brian Puckett and COA, but we can't count on that. Conservative activist groups tend to have a "me-only" attitude and lack the very good organizational and marketing skills endemic to the liberal left-wing groups. If you've ever wondered why liberal groups are so good at getting out their message, it's because they understand -- and expertly use -- networking skills. So we -- you and I -- are going to have to do this. Or are we going to let another good thing die because we weren't willing to make the effort to defend it? COA's website takes online credit card donations; but you can also mail a check to: Citizens Of America 2118 Wilshire Blvd. #447 Santa Monica, CA 90403. Let's see if we can save 'em. I appreciate anything you can do for these folks. Jon E. Dougherty is a staff writer for WorldNetDaily. NOTE: If you wish to contribute to COA, it can easily be done via a secure credit card link at the bottom of COA's home page. Go to:
************************************************************ From The 2ndAmendmentNews Team If you received this as a forward and wish to join please send: E-MAil to listserver@frostbit.com with the following text in the message body:SUBSCRIBE 2nd-Amendment-News If you know anyone who would appreciate these alerts, please let us know and we'll enroll them on a trial basis. Also, feel free to forward our alerts.