Media presence

[johnharris]

I had a concerned phone call today from a state Senator who is getting questions and emails from individuals about the parks bill. Most of these are uninformed, ignorant responses to a local news story that had its purpose of spinning the issue in a bad light.

There are 100's of thousands of gun owners in the state but many are not active in grassroots.

There are however tens of thousands of gun owners who are. Many are not sure what to do or how to do it but they are willing to participate with guidance.

One of the questions I received is why are the gun owners not writing to the news media. Well, many are. However, we cannot force them to print our replies. What we can do however is have an everlasting presence on the web sites and to regularly write to them.

Newspapers (online) that I regularly check include

www.tennessean.com
www.nashvillepost.com
www.nasvillecitypaper.com
www.jacksonsun.com
www.commercialappeal.com
www.knoxnews.com
www.timesfreepress.com
www.dnj.com
www.lebanondemocrat.com
www.theleafchronicle.com

I do not make them all but I try to at least once a week.

What I would like to have help with is for a large group of TFA members to pick several papers - even if they are not in your own city or county - to monitor. Share "letters" to the editor and/or use them from the TFA site to write to these papers to support our legislators, our laws and our rights. Attack their ignorance and prejudices. Respond to the "blogs" and "comments" with facts and data. I am not looking for "trolls" and "flamers", I am looking for responsible gun advocates to help monitor and reply.

Always remember, when you post and when it is appropriate, always include links back to the TFA site, the TFA forum and let them know you are an informed TFA gun owner.