Effective Legislative Strategies:
Effective Legislative Strategies:
(notes from a talk by Betty Gallo, professional lobbyist)
90% of Gun Lobbying (GL) is showing up.
Best GL is face-to-face, then
phone calls, then
letters, (but nobody writes them anymore), then
emails, then
petitions, then
mass emails.
Mass emails can give cover to a legislator; they can say that they got a gazillion emails demanding that they vote a particular way.
Most Important: Be a Constituent!
Legislators track constituent phone calls.
When contacting a legislator, or testifying at a hearing:
1) Tell legislators What you want.
2) Tell them Why; the more personal, the better.
3) Ask What are they going to do. If they say something like “You raised a very good point”, they’re probably not going to vote your way.
4) If they say that they haven’t decided, ask When they will, and follow up again, and again. Keep calling.
The turnout at the public hearings is very important. That is where the pro-gun people have the anti-gun people beat.
When testifying, say: “I’m here because this issue is important to me.”
If you can’t get there early, have someone sign you up. They can make a guesstimate as to when your time to testify will come, and sign you  in accordingly.
5 days notice for public hearings; not “business” days. Weekends count too.