Tactics: Why Politicians Hate Us

That can work — on non-controversial bills. But gun bills are always controversial.

If all your organization can offer is access, politicians will betray you the moment leadership leans on them, the media pressures them, or a big PAC waves a check in their face.

(Of course, North Carolina Firearms Coalition enjoys access to the best legislators in Raleigh who sponsor our legislation and lead in the fight for gun rights. That’s not what we’re talking about here.)

This kind of betrayal happens every day in session. It’s why people are so jaded about politics. It’s why so many good activists burn out. It’s why Congress has lower approval ratings than the IRS.

Political power is something entirely different. Political power means you can tell a politician to vote the right way — or you can ask your members to replace that politician at election time if he betrays them.

But political power doesn’t show up on its own. It has to be built over time.

Politicians hate this. They want to be the only ones talking to the citizens. So when we expose what’s happening in Raleigh — what they want kept behind closed doors — they lash out and accuse us of being “just fundraisers.”

Of course they say that. It’s the only move they have. They can’t control us because we’re not chasing access.

That’s not how we operate.

In fact, in a red state like North Carolina, we often spend more on primaries than on general elections.

The goal is simple: remind politicians that if they oppose our gun rights — or refuse to help us advance them — they’ll face the heat in their next primary.

Sometimes gun owners throw the RINOs out. Sometimes the RINOs squeak by. Either way, every politician in Raleigh pays attention, because they know our organization doesn’t play by establishment rules — and they could be next.

National gun groups take money from North Carolina gun owners, then mail out a fake scorecard or a single orange postcard. It’s cute — in a very 1994 kind of way. It’s cheap. And it’s ineffective.

That’s not how we operate.

North Carolina Firearms Coalition has consistently updated our messaging and outreach to match how gun owners get their information. For some, we send a four-page mailer exposing anti-gun Democrats. For others, we run radio and TV ads. Others get text alerts. And others see us through targeted social media ads.

How do we know what works for each individual gun owner? Our IT team tracks engagement and tailors future contact to the method that individual uses the most.

This allows us to reach massive numbers of gun owners in targeted districts during general elections in ways that are relevant and easy for them to share with friends.

Where our primary program exposes RINOs, our general election work exposes gun-grabbing Democrats — especially those in vulnerable districts — making sure they know their anti-gun votes won’t go unanswered.

But none of this matters unless it’s done repeatedly — year after year.

Staying power — the ability to consistently run aggressive legislative and election programs — is what separates North Carolina Firearms Coalition from nearly every other group in Raleigh.

Most groups buckle under pressure from politicians or the media. Their board or executive director can’t take the heat, so they fold and conform to the political class.

It’s sad when it happens. But it happens all the time.

That’s the final reason the politicians in Raleigh either love us or hate us. They can’t silence us. They can’t buy us off. They can’t out-message us. And they know we’ve got the staying power to keep this fight going indefinitely.

Thanks to the support of our members, we’ve been fighting for Second Amendment freedom in North Carolina for decades — and we’re just getting started!