Profiles in Apathy
“There aren’t enough pro-gun politicians!”

by David Codrea
codrea4@adelphia.net

September 9 ,2003

This is the first in a planned series of case studies exploring how the biggest enemy gun owners face is their unwillingness to donate the necessary effort and money toward changing the things they gripe loudest about—even (especially) when no-compromise solutions to their complaints are offered.

KeepAndBearArms.com -- John Brantuk knew his run for the California State Assembly would be a long-shot. The Whittier, CA businessman lived in a district that had been gerrymandered into a Democrat stronghold, and political experts discounted the chances of a Constitutionalist Republican to even make a dent—which is why the GOP slot was open to a novice.

But John had one thing going for him that the experts hadn’t reckoned with—name recognition among local gun rights advocates. As master of ceremonies of the monthly “ATF Night”, a dinner/social/educational gathering of Second Amendment activists in the Los Angeles area, he had earned the trust and respect of Southern California gun owners. Because of this trust, the proprietor of a major gun show gave John a list of people in his district who had voluntarily provided their names and addresses to receive gun-related mailings. And John’s opponent was a typical anti-gun establishment Democrat.

Except it turned out not to matter. Volunteer support for John’s campaign was limited to the same core who always carry the load at local events, probably no more than a dozen people who actually gave him more than a couple of hours. Financial support was not forthcoming. And the valuable list of gun owners? Of over 12,000 appearing on the list, less than 1,200 were even registered to vote!

What could have been a stunning come-from-behind victory for an underdog ended up as just another loss, albeit John’s numbers were impressive enough to catch the eye of the state GOP—with 39% of the vote, he did much better than anyone had expected. But had just half of those 12,000 gun owners been registered and showed up to vote, the Brantuk for Assembly campaign would have carried the day, stunned the opposition, and established a template for unseating Democrats and restoring principled leadership in the Golden State’s legislature.

As it is, John is mulling over a second attempt. Still, there’s this little thing about a $12,000 campaign debt that hasn’t been retired yet, and that’ll need to be taken care of first.

Gun owners, where are you?

Any bets on whether those complaining the most about a lack of pro-gun politicians will step forward to help out, or will John have to eat further into his life savings as punishment for showing leadership and trying to make a difference?

Click here to contribute. I have.

David Codrea is an advisory member of the Silveira v Lockyer Support Fund, financing research to achieve a definitive Second Amendment ruling by the Supreme Court. For information on this groundbreaking effort and how you can help, visit www.KeepAndBearArms.com.