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Many people are somewhat intimidated at the thought of confronting a legislator. Some complain that legislators "twist their words". So I thought I'd give some examples of favorite legislator tricks and suggestions for responding.
1. You don't understand how the system works.
Of course I do! The job of a legislator is to uphold the Constitution and protect our rights. That's why I expect you to support/oppose ....2. I'm really your friend and I'm trying to help you!
A friend would never take my rights away! A friend would never offer to "cut off my fingers" so that someone else won't "cut off my hand". You don't "help" me by taking my rights away. Helping me means you support/oppose...3. If you don't support this compromise, you'll hurt Republicans and then Democrats will get elected.
Why should I care whether my rights are taken away by a Democrat or a Republican? If anti-gun Democrats get elected, that will help us to elect pro-gun legislators in the future, instead of liberal Republican legislators who sell us out. Now, are you going to support/oppose...?4. If we don't pass a compromise bill, the gun control Ballot Initiative will pass and that will be worse.
Why are you conceding defeat before the initiative has even collected signatures? Besides, your job is to do what's right, vote your principles, and uphold our rights. I expect you to support/oppose...5. You can trust me to consider this carefully and do the right thing.
The right thing is to support/oppose... Do I have your commitment to do that?6. I'm only doing what the public wants. You need to do a better job of educating people.
Your job is not to "do what the public wants", but to uphold the constitution and protect our rights. As a legislator, you are in a wonderful position to educate people. What are you doing to help us?7. We need to balance your right to own a gun with the right of other people to feel safe.
Where in the Constitution is the "right to feel safe" listed? No one has a right to be safe, much less to "feel safe". We do have the right, and the obligation, to ensure our own safety, and that right specifically includes owning and carrying firearms.8. You seem to know a lot about this subject. Instead of making a fuss by opposing this bill, why don't you help me? Followed by...
After the session, we can meet and you can propose some good legislation.
Why don't you put together some questions on gun rights and I'll send them to my constituents?
If you send me an analysis of the bill, I'll consider it.
Would you be interested in advising me on firearms issues?These are ALL attempts to get you to back off, go away, or even to buy you off. Don't fall for it! The proper response is: I'd be happy to work with you, but I'm going to continue to actively support/oppose this bill, and expect you to do the same. Or perhaps.. If you support/oppose this bill, I'll be happy to work with you to support gun rights. NEVER BACK DOWN!
Always insist that the legislator vote the way you want him to. Always ask for a commitment. Always be polite - but very firm and insistent. Always let the legislator know that you are tracking his votes, and you will take action based on how he votes. If you're a constituent, a delegate, hold a party office, say so!
Remember! Your goal is not to be liked by legislators, but to be FEARED!
How do I find out who my legislators are?
Go to: http://www.sltrib.com/politics/maps/ or call your County Clerk.
Contact information:
House: http://www.le.state.ut.us/house/Members/members.htm
House email: http://www.le.state.ut.us/house/Members/Email/email.htm
Senate: http://www.senate.le.state.ut.us/roster99.htm
What's the best approach?
Meeting with your legislator in person is the most effective approach. Call and set up an appointment to meet either at the Capitol or at another location convenient to both of you. Some legislators will be happy to attend a meeting with you and your family or neighbors.Phone calls are also good. Call your legislator AT HOME, generally in the evening. Be polite. If you have to leave a message, include the reason you are calling in your message. "I'm calling to ask Sen. Fatcat to oppose SB 666. I live in his district and/or I'm a delegate/party officer." If it's okay if he returns your call late at night, say so!
Calling the Capitol is not as effective, but may be necessary when time is short. Messages phoned to the Capitol are sent via email, which is not very effective. But you CAN (and should!) ask that your message be delivered by hand.
Letters and postcards are very effective too. Large stacks of mail tend to impress legislators! Most legislators do not have the time to read essays, so letters should never be more than one page long. Always start the letter or card with your basic message, i.e. "No more gun control!" or "Vote NO on HB 666". You may even want to carry some postcards around and get friends to sign and send them! Remember to put your name and address on the postcard!
Email is the LEAST effective way to reach a legislator. Many of them don't even use email. It's easy for a legislator to simply delete all his email without reading it too. If you do use email, make sure your message is in the subject line, since that's all your legislator may ever see. As a general rule, email should only be used IN ADDITION to one or more of the other methods.
List of email addresses: (Remember - Not all legislators use email!)
House
Gadair@le.state.ut.us (Gerry Adair)
Jalexand@le.state.ut.us (Jeff Alexander)
sallen@le.state.ut.us (Sheryl Allen)
eanderso@le.state.ut.us (Eli Anderson)
parent@le.state.ut.us (Patrice Arent)
lbaca@le.state.ut.us (Loretta Baca)
tbeck@le.state.ut.us (Trisha Beck)
rbecker@le.state.ut.us (Ralph Becker)
cbennion@le.state.ut.us (Chad Bennion)
rbigelow@le.state.ut.us (Ron Bigelow)
jbiskups@le.state.ut.us (Jackie Biskupski)
dbourdea@le.state.ut.us (Duane Bourdeaux)
dbowman@le.state.ut.us (DeMar Bowman)
abradsha@le.state.ut.us (Afton Bradshaw)
mbrown@le.state.ut.us (Mel Brown)
kbryson@le.state.ut.us (Katherine Bryson)
pbuckner@le.state.ut.us (Perry Buckner)
jbuffmir@le.state.ut.us (Judy Buffmire)
dbush@le.state.ut.us (Don Bush)
cbuttars@le.state.ut.us (Craig Buttars)
mcarlson@le.state.ut.us (Mary Carlson)
bchard@le.state.ut.us (Blake Chard)
dcox@le.state.ut.us (David N. Cox)
gcox@le.state.ut.us (Gary Cox)
gcurtis@le.state.ut.us (Greg Curtis)
mdayton@le.state.ut.us (Margaret Dayton)
mdillree@le.state.ut.us (Marda Dillree)
cduckwor@le.state.ut.us (Carl W. Duckworth)
bferry@le.state.ut.us (Ben C. Ferry)
ffife@le.state.ut.us (Fred J. Fife)
lfrandse@le.state.ut.us (Lloyd Frandsen)
kgarn@le.state.ut.us (Kevin Garn)
dgladwel@le.state.ut.us (David Gladwell)
bgoodfel@le.state.ut.us (Brent Goodfellow)
jgowans@le.state.ut.us (James Gowans)
nhansen@le.state.ut.us (Neil A. Hansen)
wharper@le.state.ut.us (Wayne Harper)
thatch@le.state.ut.us (Thomas Hatch)
nhendric@le.state.ut.us (Neal Hendrickson)
jhickman@le.state.ut.us (Bill Hickman)
dhogue@le.state.ut.us (Dave Hogue)
kholdawa@le.state.ut.us (Kory M. Holdaway)
bhollada@le.state.ut.us (Bryan Holladay)
diverson@le.state.ut.us (Dennis Iverson)
bjohnson@le.state.ut.us (Bradley Johnson)
kjohnson@le.state.ut.us (Keele Johnson)
djones@le.state.ut.us (David Jones)
bking@le.state.ut.us (Brad King)
skoehn@le.state.ut.us (Susan Koehn)
blockhar@le.state.ut.us (Becky Lockhart)
kmorgan@le.state.ut.us (Karen W. Morgan)
jmurray@le.state.ut.us (Joseph Murray)
lnelson@le.state.ut.us (Lowell Nelson)
lpace@le.state.ut.us (Loraine Pace)
trowan@le.state.ut.us (Tammy Rowan)
Csaunder@le.state.ut.us (Carl Saunders)
jseitz@le.state.ut.us (Jack Seitz)
Rshort@le.state.ut.us (Ray Short)
lshurtli@le.state.ut.us (Lou Shurtliff)
rsiddowa@le.state.ut.us (Richard Siddoway)
gsnow@le.state.ut.us (Gordon Snow)
msnow@le.state.ut.us (Marlon O. Snow)
mstephen@le.state.ut.us (Martin Stephens)
nstephen@le.state.ut.us (Nora Stephens)
mstyler@le.state.ut.us (Michael Styler)
jswallow@le.state.ut.us (John Swallow)
jtanner@le.state.ut.us (Jordan Tanner)
mthrockm@le.state.ut.us (Matt Throckmorton)
atyler@le.state.ut.us (Lamont Tyler)
dure@le.state.ut.us (David Ure)
rwalsh@le.state.ut.us (Richard Walsh)
gway@le.state.ut.us (Glenn Way)
bwright@le.state.ut.us (Bill Wright)
dzolman@le.state.ut.us (David Zolman)Senate
eallen@le.state.ut.us (Edgar Allen)
rallen@le.state.ut.us (Ron Allen)
lbeattie@le.state.ut.us (Lane Beattie)
Lblackha@le.state.ut.us (Leonard Blackham)
gdavis@le.state.ut.us (Gene Davis)
mdmitric@le.state.ut.us (Mike Dmitrich)
bevans@le.state.ut.us (Beverly Ann Evans)
revans@le.state.ut.us (R. Mont Evans)
khale@le.state.ut.us (Karen Hale)
phellewe@le.state.ut.us (Parley G. Hellewell)
lhillyar@le.state.ut.us (Lyle Hillyard)
Showell@le.state.ut.us (Scott Howell)
jhull@le.state.ut.us (Joseph Hull)
ljones@le.state.ut.us (Lorin Jones)
pjulande@le.state.ut.us (Paula F. Julander)
pknudson@le.state.ut.us (Peter C. Knudson)
amansell@le.state.ut.us (Al Mansell)
emayne@le.state.ut.us (Ed Mayne)
rmontgom@le.state.ut.us (Robert Montgomery)
rmuhlest@le.state.ut.us (Robert Muhlestein)
hnielson@le.state.ut.us (Howard Nielson)
mpeterso@le.state.ut.us (Millie Peterson)
spoulton@le.state.ut.us (Steven Poulton)
tspencer@le.state.ut.us (Terry Spencer)
dsteele@le.state.ut.us (David Steele)
hstephen@le.state.ut.us (Howard Stephenson)
psuazo@le.state.ut.us (Pete Suazo)
jvalenti@le.state.ut.us (John Valentine)
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