Spoke with Sen. Slatter this week, hopefully speaking with the Director from the Alliance for Gun Responsibility next.

Many of you have probably seen my comments about getting off of Reddit and engaging your reps with the latest slew of gun-related bills, and I'm happy to report back that I had to pleasure of speaking with Sen. Slatter this week, who not only had open ears during our entire conversation, but is communicating my concerns directly with her colleagues supporting these bills, and is connecting me with a director at the Alliance for Gun Responsibility to hopefully see if any adjustments can be made to the proposed bills, specifically the cap on bulk ammunition purchases.

The context here was that I reached out early Jan to a few different reps with a respectful and concise email that gave some background on myself, listed my concerns, offered solutions, and invited an in-person or zoom call to further discuss and brainstorm. Sen. Slatter took me up on that offer, and we had a very in-depth, productive, and friendly chat about it all.

She wanted to learn more about elements of gun ownership and competition shooting that she wasn't aware before, and I was happy to oblige. She also mentioned that the supporters of these newly submitted bills are open to amendments and tweaks being made to them, versus other controversial bills during previous legislative sessions that they were much more firm on. Having done these calls before, I truly couldn't have expected a better result with this specific one.

What's my point here? It's the same one I've had all along. Instead of constantly doom-posting on this sub and the other WA Guns sub, direct your energy towards having discussions with your reps, because outreach does work.

I realize that many of you will still dig your heels into the ground and claim that it's all for nothing, that the state is absolutely screwed, and that we just need to bend over and take it all. Fine. I'm not sure I can change your minds.

For those who still do care, and want to try to make a change in our state, below are some unsolicited tips that will hopefully get you the response you're looking for.

1. Respect is the #1 thing.. Our reps are people, just like us, and if you're coming in hot, pointing fingers, and clearly have an attitude about it all, they're going to respond like normal people and probably ignore you. Be an adult and treat people with respect, even if you feel like they have a different stance than you.

2. In addition to listing your grievances, you need to propose alternative solutions. All of us want safer communities and less violence, so provide ways to solve those things instead of sending an email that just looks like a giant complaint.

3. Ask to speak to someone. In all the cases that outreach has worked for me, I specifically asked for a meeting of some sort. Having a human to human discussion with someone is so much more valuable than just reading faceless text via email.

Just figured I'd share what's been going on in my world, since I've been so vocal about this stuff on other people's posts.

Wishing you all the best of luck on your outreach this year, and I'll update you again if/when I have my next meeting.