From: "IG", [EMAIL PROTECTED] <<It is the strength of the views that counts, you are 100% wrong on that one, because a poll may say 80% of people support the laws but of those people few will base their vote on it. However, if you're a shooter, you are far more likely to take the candidate's view of guns into account when you vote. This has been demonstrated in elections all over the world>> If I was to accept that you are right, what happened in 1997? And in any case, show me a single candidate or prospective MP who will make an election manifesto on a single issue? It wont happen. Even if there was such a thing, there aren't enough shooters in this country who are passionate enough to make any difference. We can't even unite under one organisation! IG -- What happened in 1997 is that all the parties supported the ban. However, the SRA managed in 1988 to get enough people to vote against William Hague in a by-election that he just scraped in by I think 600 votes in a safe Tory seat. At the next election his margin was in five figures. I'll bet if you ask William Hague if he thinks shooters are a force to be reckoned with at an election his view will be different to yours. The best example I can think of is Bernie Sanders, who is the Congressman from Vermont. This guy was a founder I understand of the American Socialist Party, and the incumbent was a Republican in the 1992 election. Bernie Sanders got elected purely because he opposed the Brady Bill, even the Republican and the Democrat said as much in their concession speeches. Shooters were a major force in the elections in New South Wales I think it was in 1991 or thereabouts. My experience is that it depends on what the issue is. If it is something minor like a proposal to make background checks tougher or have a longer waiting period then gun owners aren't much of a force at an election. However if it is something severe like the introduction of a ban or registration, and one party is heavily for it and one heavily against, then gun owners can make a major difference in the outcome. There's no need for the candidate to make an election pledge on just one issue, that's not the point. If the candidate is against more gun laws and isn't extreme on some other issue gun owners will vote for him/her. "They'll have to shoot me first to take my gun." - Roy Rogers discussing the 1982 California handgun "freeze" referendum, which failed. Steve. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
