NOTICE OF COMBINED GUN RIGHTS MEETING
NOTICE OF COMBINED GUN RIGHTS MEETING
NOTICE OF COMBINED GUN RIGHTS MEETING


The next meeting of "The Umbrella Group" (TUG):

Wednesday, October 18, 2000
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. dinner, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. meeting

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 seat.


TUG meetings are tentatively set for the third Wednesday of each month. Location may change depending on the size of the crowd. 

BACKGROUND:

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 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. 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.

KABA NOTE:  We encourage combined force meetings to form in every state and each major city, now.  MAKE IT HAPPEN!!