Getting Customers Politically Engaged

What are you doing to preserve the Second Amendment and encourage others to defend it? Unfortunately, many of us aren’t doing enough. Our industry lacks activists, especially when it comes to discussing politics with customers. We were taught to avoid political discussions because it could hurt sales opportunities with middle-of-the-road buyers, however the results of the last election prove it’s time to stop biting our tongues.

Our rights, and with it our livelihood, are in peril. In spite of millions of new gun owners added in the past year — who, admittedly, many were anti-gun prior — we now have the most anti-gun administration in our nation’s history. We’re getting hit from all angles, from merchant services declining our business to enforcement agencies unlawfully redefining laws that can turn millions of gun owners into criminals overnight.

Taking our Constitution for granted and assuming the Second Amendment will always be here is foolish.

The Changing Image Of Gun Owners

Over the past year, we’ve gained millions of new gun owners. Some of them might label themselves as Liberal, Libertarian, Independent and so forth. The image of a gun owner is changing. Some gun owners might agree with the proposed gun restrictions, but those who do are rarely educated on the matter.

Most have simply bought the “common sense” line constantly spewed by all the gun grabbers when manipulating tragedies to fit their agenda. They’re brainwashed by the constant verbose and emotional dialog from the media and politicians, who are also uneducated about the mechanics of firearms, the ballistics of ammunition, real statistics about self-defense and the advantages/disadvantages of accessories, as well as those who know better and blatantly lie.

“We need to stop worrying about offending people and start educating the public.”

This is because the anti-gun organizations have been much louder than us and always exploit people’s emotions around tragedies. We need to stop worrying about offending people and start educating the public.

The majority of the customers who walk through your door are average people. Their livelihood is not based around firearms. Even in the days of social media where there are many influencers who try to keep their audience educated, there are far more everyday people who walk through your door who do not see any of it. Imagine talking to someone who works in the software department and they ask if you’ve heard about the latest news concerning Microsoft. Most of us have no clue. That’s not our industry so how could we possibly be aware if this information isn’t readily available and of interest to us?

Problem: Gun Owners Don’t Know The Stakes

If half of gun owners knew what was being proposed or passing through legislatures, there would be a lot more commotion over preserving out rights.

Last fall when the ATF first proposed their new rulemaking change on pistol braces, there were close to 100,000 comments before the ATF withdrew the proposal. Since then, a report from the Congressional Research Service included an estimate of 10 to 40 million braces are owned by consumers.

In spite of how fast word spreads online, there are millions of brace owners who remained uninformed of the attempt by the ATF to make their property illegal. Even with it in the news again, due to the Biden-Harris administration’s executive actions, there are still millions of gun owners who may not have heard of the issue at all or comprehend what is at stake.

5 Fixes To Boost Political Engagement

1. Education Starts With You
So, how can you subtly educate your customers without turning them off? First, you need to educate yourself on what’s going on. We need to stay informed so we can portray accurate information.

A great way to do so is to follow organizations like Firearms Policy Coalition, Gun Owners of America, the NRA, NSSF and so on. Each of these organizations send out weekly emails informing the public of what’s taking place in the realm of firearms.

Alex Bosco, CEO of SB Tactical, started the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition (FRAC) to defend our rights against government overreach and helped personally fund the organization and its legislative efforts to defend the Second Amendment.

This organization is a must for “firearms, ammunition, and accessories manufacturers and importers from government overreach,” but is also useful to people such as ourselves looking to stay informed. FRAC includes a “News & Resources” column on its website, which can be educational for any gun owner.

2. Inform, Inform, Inform
Next, we need to inform our customers. You can go full throttle, or do something less obvious, like Iron Sights Gun Co. has — they include a copy of the Constitution with every online order. Owner Mike Conroy shares, “it seems patriotism is becoming something of the past. Our government doesn’t seem to care about the Constitution and what it stands for and we think it’s a document that needs to be read, viewed, shared and referred to.”

Including a copy of the constitution with orders, or having them out on a counter at stores are very subtle ways to encourage people to read up on and understand our constitutionally protected rights.

3. Bulletin Board Material
Over the years most gun shops, ranges and other firearms related businesses have had traditional bulletin boards. Many still do and in those cases, printing out the latest political news involving the Second Amendment to hang on the bulletin board is a good idea.

Much better, however, if you have an extra computer that’s maybe a bit slow or a kiosk, put it out front to use as a display with the latest news.

If you don’t have a bulletin board or computer, place flyers on the counter. This doesn’t have to be updated often, but if there’s a push for gun control in your area (or a proposed law, such as the ones we’ve seen by ATF to redefine braces), it’s a great way to educate and encourage customers to act.

4. Conversations
The most effective strategy is to have conversations. Be tactful about it, perhaps starting the conversation about something that recently happened in the news, or if the customer is looking at a product with some controversy, inform them.

These conversations can lead to much more important topics every gun owner, regardless of political stance, should know. Too many people believe what they hear from the media and/or anti-gun grabbers, which is why having a nonchalant conversation is a great way to nip those misconceptions.

The DC Project, which is a nonpartisan organization that sends at least one female from each state to Washington, D.C. to speak with their legislators, has a (free) one-page document you can sign up and download. Titled, “How to talk about guns, safety and protecting the civil rights of all Americans,” this article outlines appropriate strategies to have these important conversations, which you can apply to friends, family, and customers.

Dianna Muller, founder of the DC Project, is a great example of females in the industry working to educate not just people interested in firearms, but politicians as well. They put a refreshing face on the industry with women from all walks of life.

Visit dcproject.info to download the free PDF and share it with your retail team.

Let’s Do Our Part

We all have to do our part to grow the Second Amendment community and get as many people politically active as we can. Taking our rights for granted or assuming you don’t have a real say in the matter is getting old.

Now, more than ever, the future of our country and the rights our founding fathers fought to guarantee are relying on people like you and I.

Ava Flanell is the founder of Elite Firearms & Training in Colorado Springs, Colo.