A letter from the president

March 17, 2003

Dear SACMO supporter, 

 It was good to see everyone at the gun rights rally in Jefferson City and it was a good day for all of us in the pro-gun community.

 Some of you asked how much money has SACMO collected, how much do we need and what are we going to do with it?  We can pay our current bills and can afford to drive to Jefferson City, lobby and visit the legislators (and we have done that a lot this year) and can afford to send out post cards, legislative alerts and legislative up-dates and that sort of thing.  But, is that the future of the gun rights movement?  Is that all we want to do?  Are we content to have a relatively few bucks and fight the brush fires as they come along - to have just enough money to stay even?  I'd say "NO"!  One of the really big problems with SACMO in the past was that we were infested with a bunch of small thinkers with no long range plans and little imagination.  They could not see the "Big Picture" even when it was plastered on the wall in front of them.

 Here’s the crux of the problem.  THE PUBLIC ELECTS THE LEGISLATORS!  What that means to us is if we only deal with the legislators and not the public (which is what most pro gun groups do) eventually there will be too many dedicated anti gunners for us to be able to sway.  Almost everything the local gun rights people have ever done is aimed at the legislators.  Even the "Gun Rights Rally Day" that we just attended was aimed squarely at the legislators.  Did it get on the news?  Did the public get to hear our point of view?  Heck no!  The news is controlled by the anti gunners.  If the public is convinced that guns are bad just by definition, eventually we will be overwhelmed with anti gun legislators that are sent to Jefferson City because that is the way the public will vote.  The usual way of fighting for our rights is a loosing battle.  What is the answer?

 The answer is that we must start trying to influence and educate the public about the positive aspects of private ownership of firearms!  The public gets most of their firearms information from the likes of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Kansas City Star, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS and so on.  The largest percent of positive news about gun ownership is through the letters to the editor section of newspapers and even that is controlled by the anti gun editors.  Well, how do we reach the public with the truth?  Advertising!  Bill boards, television, radio, print and so on.  But that costs money.  BIG money.  And small thinkers who stop as soon as they have next months bills socked away in the checking account will never be able to accomplish the goals of influencing the public in any significant way.  Small thinkers are relegated to only talking to the legislators because that is all they can afford to do.

 Now do you see why I want SACMO to grow and get bigger and wealthier?

Do you see why we need to have more than a few thousand dollars?  One billboard in a less than prime location is $6,000.00 per year.  One series of one minute television ads can cost upwards of $30,000.00.  You just don't even start to think about those sort of outreach programs until you have a demonstrated ability to first make the money and then have saved enough to be secure.

 Unfortunately, too many people on our side either can't or won't get the big picture.  Don't be one of them.  Think about the “big picture”.  Imagine how good you would feel seeing or hearing a well-written ad extolling the virtues of private gun ownership.  More importantly think how effective it would be if the average person on the street thought, "Well, guns do a lot of good, you know.  I just heard about it on television."  SACMO was almost within reach of the position last summer where we could take the first steps towards advertising the benefits of private gun ownership. That was when the small thinkers could stand the pressure no more and tried to take over the organization.  That undignified, undemocratic attempted coup cost the gun rights movements BIG.  Now we have repaired the damage and are proceeding again.

 Please help us raise the kind of money to really make a difference.  Be a part of the most effective gun rights organization in Missouri, SACMO. Fill out an application and send it in today. 

 Most sincerely yours,  

    Dale A. Schmid  

Dale A. Schmid, president

The Second Amendment Coalition of Missouri Inc.

previous letters

3/5/03

2/21/03