Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 15:26:30 -0700 From: alan@BLOOMFIELDPRESS.COM (Alan Korwin) Subject: TUG Meeting Agenda To: AZRKBA@asu.edu
Coming up: Wednesday, February 21, 2001, 6 p.m.
"TUG" COMBINED GUN-RIGHTS MEETING "TUG" COMBINED GUN-RIGHTS MEETING "TUG" COMBINED GUN-RIGHTS MEETING
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF MEMBERS OF -- Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association Bloomfield Press Brassroots, Inc. Citizen's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Deer Tribe Gun Club Friends of the NRA Grassroots of North Carolina Gun Owners Action League Gun Owners of America Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership KeepAndBearArms.com LegacyOfGunControl.com Libertarian Party (Arizona) Maricopa County Libertarian Party Mothers Arms National Rifle Association Second Amendment Is For Everyone Second Amendment Sisters Single Action Shooting Society Tyranny Response Team
---Group leaders--- Please be sure to notify your members!
PARTIAL AGENDA -- PARTIAL AGENDA --
- State Legislature is Supporting/Attacking Gun Rights - Arresting Tucson City Councilmembers for Denial of Rights - Closed-door "Gun Violence Forum" TUG response is coming - "Phil's Grand Idea" - TUG Band debut: The Cartridge Family - Much more, as usual
The next meeting of "The Umbrella Group" (TUG):
Wednesday, February 21, 2001 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. dinner 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. meeting
Location: COUNTRY HARVEST BUFFET RESTAURANT 7720 S. Priest Dr., Tempe, AZ SW corner of Elliot and Priest, just east of I-10 Private meeting room holds 125 Unlimited buffet, under $10 incl. tax and tip Separate checks
PLEASE RSVP TO TIM WEAVER tim@brassroots.org Come early to ensure yourself a good seat. TUG meetings are now set for the third Wednesday of each month thru June 2001. Location may change depending on the size of the crowd.
NEW -- What is a TUG meeting like? This was received from a guest at a TUG meeting: "This has to be the most inspiring meeting I have ever attended. It started with the meeting invitation stating, "Tasteful open carry appreciated." Then I found myself in a city 2000 miles from home, surrounded by people that I had never met, most of whom were carrying handguns in visible holsters at a public restaurant. I was immediately at ease... I knew I was surrounded by "the good guys." Then, during introductions and small talk as everyone got their dinner and settled into seats, I noticed all conversations were about how to fix the mess we're in... i.e. what can we pro-gunners do? Finally, during the meeting itself, as ideas were presented, there were a number of folks who stood up and immediately volunteered to take on tasks to accomplish the goals being discussed. If we had this level of enthusiasm in every state of the Union, we wouldn't be debating whether George W. Bush or Al Gore is the lesser of two evils, but something more like, "Are you voting for the guy that held the skeet shoot, or the IPSC-shooter for President?"
BACKGROUND for newcomers: At a dinner meeting on August 29, 2000, members of the above groups decided to hold a massive pow wow of gun-rights activists. Representatives and members of those and related groups were invited to attend. The plan started as an idea from Rick DeStephens and Tim Weaver of Brassroots, Inc., along with Angel Shamaya of KeepAndBearArms.com and Alan Korwin of gunlaws.com (Bloomfield Press). The purpose of the meeting is to bring together Arizona's gun rights groups into a loose coalition that we anticipate will benefit each activist group. Think of it as a pro-freedom get-together where no group loses its autonomy but instead may be able to learn from and lean upon the people and resources of other groups. This meeting, which has been playfully dubbed, "TUG," or "The Umbrella Group," serves no other purpose than to satisfy the needs of real, shoe-leather activists. TUG has no leaders, no 501(C)(3) status, no board of directors, no veto power. It evaporates as soon as the meeting ends, and re-forms when the next meeting starts. It is an exercise in the right to assemble. What it does is provide a forum for activist groups to present a plan of activism to those who show up ready and willing to fight for freedom. This is to be a working group, not just a coffee klatch for entertainment, or for gossip and complaints about the day's news. We're expecting to set in motion both single-event and long-term action plans that will help preserve our constantly attacked and frequently jeopardized liberties. It will also be an enormously educational forum.
Leaders of the individual groups will have time to stand up and talk about plans of action. Their presentations will hopefully have been well-thought out, complete with handouts and sign-up sheets if they wish. They will cover what their group is, what their plans are, and what they need from you for their projects to succeed. If a presenter's plan tickles your activist soul then you can get together in a breakout session or after the meeting, talk over the details and swap contact information. If it doesn't suit your style or your politics you can sit back and wait for a presentation that does. When possible, floor time may be available for attendees to present action plans themselves. It doesn't have to be about gun rights, but ought to and probably will be for the first few meetings. Ultimately, the fundamental focus is freedom, and the goal is activism. Long-winded speeches and "preaching to the choir" should be discouraged, because we generally know the issues already -- what we want are plans and recommendations for actions that attendees can follow. Anyone being counterproductive will be booed out of attendance by everyone else. The idea is to focus on issues that concern us as free people, and actions we can take to help preserve and strengthen our precious rights. Some of us will probably hang out yakking in the parking lot till dawn.
Does this sound like something we have long needed? Does this sound like something for which you could invest some time? Do you have a friend or two who would also like to attend? If your answer is YES! then you need to show up and start TUGging.