Reader Cliff M. writes:

Folks, the era of simply donating money to pro-Second Amendment organizations to preserve our Constitutional rights is over. If you’ve been living under a rock, let me be the first to inform you that a Southern, pro-gun state with a Republican majority just passed gun control laws that even Kalifornistan hasn’t implemented yet. The reason? The anti-rights crowd has finally found a winning strategy, while we’ve been enjoying the status-quo and becoming fat, lazy and entirely too complacent . . .

We’re hardly the only ones with money anymore. The likes of Michael Bloomberg and his cronies now have substantial financial backing to lobby and organize angry mobs in front of our legislatures. More than anything, their formula for this winning strategy has proven to be successful. Here’s what they’ve figured out:

Timing: They understand the American psyche and the short window of opportunity they have to work with. After a major shooting they know they have to act fast – and that they did. Within less than a month, bills were written and laws were passed while the public was still riding an emotional wave. They know time will only allow logic and reason to win the conversation, and prevent their agenda from being accomplished. They don’t let a crisis go to waste.

Exploit the victims: It’s an evolutionary response for anyone to be protective of children. So they plastered them all over 24-hour news networks. Make them talk. Show the same images of them crying over and over again. While the heart strings are being tugged, that’s the time to push the message – this is all because of guns.

Demonize the opposition: They know who their enemy is, and the know how to destroy their credibility. Calling the NRA terrorists, shifting blame for the shooting, claiming blood is on their hands, etc., makes one of our beloved organizations sound pretty ominous to the naive and ignorant. This renders all the money you’re donating mostly ineffective. Nobody running for an election wants to be associated with that, and nobody is going to listen to any valid points it has to make if they think it’s evil.

Organize at the local level: We all saw the bused-in crowds of angry moms and teenagers who drank the Kool-Aid that CNN has been forcing down their throats. They were out in force in Tallahassee, wearing their Bloomberg-purchased orange t-shirts. That’s a powerful image for the easily persuaded, and intimidating to unprincipled politicians that only care about keeping their power and paychecks.

We’ve made our own mistakes. We need to . . .

Think differently: After past victories, we’ve overestimated the influence of stale organizations like the NRA, GOA, NAGR, etc. Their strategies haven’t evolved, and as a result we’ve lost some serious ground to our opposition. Funding campaigns, waiting until a law passes to push a lawsuit, feeding the pro-gun crowd the same old red meat, and encouraging constituents to send the same pre-formatted letters to our congressmen obviously doesn’t work anymore. Don’t get me wrong, they still have value, but it’s simply not enough any more.

See the big picture: I don’t think any of us like the new age restrictions in Florida…but “not liking” and being “motivated” are two clearly different sentiments. We can’t wait until they finally go after something that feels like being touched in the “no-no spot” to get off the couch and make our voices heard. The fact that laws like these were passed in Florida should be an eye-opener for everyone. It’s huge. If we don’t act more responsibly, then we’ll start feeling these deteriorating effects nationwide. This leads me to the next point…

Organize at the local level: This is one area where we’re getting our asses handed to us. Our freedom-loving, individualistic nature hurts our cause when facing down an organized threat. Our Florida brothers and sisters knew what was about to happen, yet they only managed to muster about 200 Second Amendment supporters at their only rally.

We have to understand that it’ll take us working together to match the passion being displayed in our opponents. If we protest, we need local interest in ensuring our numbers accurately represent our population of freedom loving Americans.

One of the biggest things we can accomplish by working in large numbers is to DELAY, DELAY, DELAY! As already mentioned, their formula requires rapid reaction when the moment is right. If we give enough time for logic and reason to prevail, then we can stop unconstitutional laws before they’re even passed and won’t have to fight them in court.

Be good ambassadors: We don’t do our cause any favors the way we go about defending our beliefs in public. Nobody cares about your “ACKCHYUALLY!” comments on the internet. You’re not going to convince anyone to change their minds by belittling them and telling them how much they don’t know about guns.

Things like “open carry protests” only hurt us, especially among those in the public that may be on the fence with this issue. The battle is for “hearts and minds”, so showing how knowledgeable you are only falls on deaf ears. It’s perfectly okay to educate and share an opinion, but please for the love of God don’t fan the flames or troll, because all it does is harm our cause.

Offer effective alternatives: Before the next shooting even happens, these organizations we’ve been funding should already have a package of new legislation that they’re ready to push. If “something” has to be done, let it be on our terms instead of reacting to the oppositions agenda. There’s a laundry list of underlying causes for these shootings, so pick “something” and push it as a solution to drown out the noise of anti-rights protests. As long as we offer “something”, then we can’t be blamed for doing “nothing”.

The civilian disarmament industrial complex is doing a lot better than we are right now. They have a winning strategy, but it’s one that’s not impossible to counter.

Let’s adapt and collectively overcome their efforts to ensure the preservation of our constitutional rights. Start getting involved in local politics, and take the time to collaborate with like-minded people to win over the hearts and minds of the public.

As sad as it is to say, we need to re-educate the public to the values of the Bill of Rights…and we can’t rely solely on the NRA to do it for us.