From: Joe Waldron Date: Sat, 07 Sep 2002 10:21:03 -0700 Subject: [ca-firearms] AARP SOLICITATION As you can see by the draft letter below, I recently received a solicitation from AARP to join that organization. For those that don't already know it, AARP has a history of supporting just about every gun control law proposed. Rather than throw the letter in the trash, I used their POSTAGE-PAID envelope to return the following response. This suggestion isn't just for us more mature members of the list. Consider doing this when you receive a solicitation from ANY anti-gun group. Most come with postage-paid envelopes, and will thus cost THEM to receive your response. That's money they can't use to take your rights away. If you can't afford at the time to send a check to support the gun rights organization of your choice, you can at least return their material to them. Every little bit helps! Joe W QUOTE Dear AARP: I recently received your solicitation for membership in the American Association of Retired Persons. Sadly, AARP has a decades-long policy of supporting any and every gun control law that comes down the pike, placing at greater risk the most vulnerable of Americans -- the elderly. The National Crime Victimization Survey, published by the U.S. Department of Justice, confirms over and over again that the most effective defense against criminal attack is an armed response by the intended victim. That AARP refuses to acknowledge this and numerous other studies showing the benefit of an armed citizenry is a betrayal of the very constituency you purport to represent. Be assured your letter DID prompt a favorable reaction on my part. You tout the advantages of AARP membership for only $12.50. I have enclosed a copy of the check for $12.50 that I mailed to the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms to continue the fight to preserve MY right to defend myself from criminal attack. Guns SAVE Lives, CLOSE QUOTE