Some really good info from a "boots on the ground" member of Washington's Republican legislature.  Ruth Peterson works in the legislature and is a solid 2A supporter.  She knows how things really work in the ledge and she shares some valuable insight into writing your elected representatives.

How To Write Your Reps

There are some other good blog posts on the right-hand column if you would like to learn more about the workings in Olympia.

I'll post some of the info here:

 Keep it short. I know you might be angry and frustrated, but I want you to do a little math here. A legislator gets several  hundred emails a day. Let’s use a very small number of 200 (reality is that it could be as much as 1000). If you get 200 emails in a day and take 5 minutes to look at each one, it will take you 16 hours to read them all. But then you have to add in the time it takes to answer. Basically 200 emails takes one person all day to process. Keep your letter short and to the point, offering your view on the issue. Some people just click “oppose” or “support” – or they might put the bill number and the word oppose or support in the subject line, adding they don’t need a response. That will get your message across, as well.


   Be civil – even if you are passionate or angry. Your point is to get your view across to your legislator, and I can guarantee that if you use foul language or call your legislator names in your email, you are not likely to change anyone’s mind. My grandma’s saying, “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar” applies here.

   
   Write only to your own representatives (one senator and two representatives), and make sure your name and address are included. People who tell you to write to every legislator are steering you in a very wrong direction. I ask you to remember the math from step two above. In today’s world of being able to forward messages and emails with links to make it easy to communicate, we often get letters with just a name. There is no way to tell if that is a constituent or not. Emails without any indication of where the writer is from are often ignored.


   One exception to rule #5. If a bill is in committee, and you wish to influence those members, you should write a note to each individual member and identify in your first sentence that you are writing because they are on the committee hearing the bill. The biggest mistake you can make on any letter is to have a bunch of names on the “to” line.

People ask me why I encourage people to write to their legislators, even when they know the legislator agrees with them.  There is a third reason. If an office gets hundreds or even thousands of emails that agree with the legislators’ view, he or she can use them as an example in debate.


Use your resources effectively. We can make a difference, but after we have contacted our legislators, we must use our remaining time to get the word out and inform the people in our sphere of influence. We multiply our efforts by encouraging others to write, as well.

REMEMBER:  No action is too small!! Even sharing information with fellow law-abiding firearm owners, friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, gun clubs, et cetera is radiating the signal!

Thank all of you for reading.  Thank you for taking action!

Trey

Just wanted to add:

This is good information:  "Some people just click “oppose” or “support” – or they might put the bill number and the word oppose or support in the subject line, adding they don’t need a response. That will get your message across, as well."

In the past, I always try to write a fairly well thought out letter.  However, there are times when the workday was long and as the evening turns to night, there isn't always enough mental "gas in the tank".  So, based on what Ruth states above, just clicking the appropriate button if writing through leg.wa.gov or just putting "support" or "oppose" in the subject line along with the bill number if you are emailing directly is effective as well.

So it is even easier to communicate your opposition to gun control bills!!!

JUST DO IT!!!

Legislators emails:

Note:  Some of these are blocked, as in you can't send to them.  I think Randi Becker is one.

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