Reluctance to name VCDL in political ads??

I don't know about where you all live around the Old Dominion, but down here in SEVa, we have in the 64th House District a GOP challenger, who I would like to support, however all the literature I have seen from him which deals with his position on 2A issues touts the NRA endorsement and his membership, however no mention anywhere about the VCDL. He has filled out a survey and it looks great from our POV, but I am confused as to why he does not embrace our organization in his print materials. Are we that inconsequential in state politics? Or is he that ignorant as to who makes things happen in Va on 2A issues. Any ideas?

Did he receive a VCDL-PAC endorsement? Richard Morris received the PAC endorsement in the 64th District. If it is Richard, I have no idea why he wouldn't want to tout his endorsement. It may just be that he is using the NRA for their name recognition. Perhaps you should write him a letter asking why he is not proud of his VCDL endorsement.

Despite VCDL eating the NRA's lunch when it comes to Virginia issues, they do have almost 100% name recognition. Ask anyone on the street who the NRA is and they will probably know. Unfortunately, even among gun owners VCDL doesn't have the recognition it should have.

thebigsd said:

Did he receive a VCDL-PAC endorsement? Richard Morris received the PAC endorsement in the 64th District. If it is Richard, I have no idea why he wouldn't want to tout his endorsement. It may just be that he is using the NRA for their name recognition. Perhaps you should write him a letter asking why he is not proud of his VCDL endorsement.

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Yes, we endorsed him. It just seems strange. I called his campaign number and left two messages inquiring about it, and never heard back from him. Our name recognition as VCDL will never grow if we don't push situations like this, to get it used,. within Virginia, as commonly as the name NRA. Makes we wonder who he surrounds himself with to manage his campaign . . . . .

Zoom pretty much said it all.
Despite the fact that the Legislators themselves know VCDL has more clout than the NRA in Va politics, they aren't a household name among gun owners.

It's something I try to point out and North of Ashland tries to ignore.

CHP holders are a very small percentage of Virginia Gun owners and CHP legislation is what VCDL is most famous for.
To top it off, VCDL really stops in Central Va and even there it's weak. South of Chesterfield and except for pockets in SW Va, VCDL doesn't exist.

Go to someplace like Bass Pro or Greentops and ask random shoppers if they're VCDL members and the normal answer will be..."Who"?

If it weren't for a fairly small group of people like Grapeshot, Skidmark, Pat, Etc....VCDL wouldn't have any standing at all in Central Va. The Hanover meeting is a good example. I think other than a few that were there for multiple reasons, there were around 17 members at the meeting. That's pretty pathetic!

Interesting discussion. How do you determine what makes VCDL strong in a particular section of VA, yet weak elsewhere? Density of membership? Amount of political activity? Visibility?

When you say VCDL is weak in central VA, are you suggesting that the Capitol activities need bolstering?

Is there a plan to boost VCDL's strength statewide? Is there a need?

paramedic70002 said:

Interesting discussion. How do you determine what makes VCDL strong in a particular section of VA, yet weak elsewhere? Density of membership? Amount of political activity? Visibility?

Answer
Membership numbers, name recognition, event participation, even the number of meetings held.

When you say VCDL is weak in central VA, are you suggesting that the Capitol activities need bolstering?

Answer
No, Philip, Dennis and Dale cover the Capitol (As in General Assembly) very well. There is considerably more to central Va. than the Capitol or City of Richmond. There is also considerably more to the gun community than self defense. I'm not going to get into that other than to say that if VCDL wants the support of the MAJORITY of gun owners, they need to get in touch with what they use guns for. The field is wide open.

Is there a plan to boost VCDL's strength statewide? Is there a need?

Answer
You need to talk to VCDL Administration about that. I'm just a lowly member.

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One other thing to look at.
When Henrico had their man with a gun presentation at a VCDL meeting, there was a moderate turnout.
When Hanover, which has a worse record of abuses did the same presentation, the turnout was less than some Saturday breakfasts we've had.

That tells me that VCDL is a Urban/Burban organization. Despite the fact that there is 2% of the gun owning population running around with shiny new .40's...it is still only 2% and the rest are country folks that have always owned guns, but don't get permits to do so and aren't really afraid to take a Sunday walk without one.

The NRA on the other hand was at one time, an organization for exactly that group of people and the legend persists.

How about a "VCDL > NRA" bumper sticker?

FTW is a VCDL? What makes them better than NRA? At least people will wonder....

I suspect many not familiar with VCDL think that, based on the name, The Virginia Citizens Defense League is a militia organization. This could be a reason why a politician would not want list it among those endorsing.

paramedic70002 said:

Is there a plan to boost VCDL's strength statewide? Is there a need?

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My "personal plan" was to give away a 50 cal..

http://ed.cx/vcdl

zoom6zoom said:

Despite VCDL eating the NRA's lunch when it comes to Virginia issues, they do have almost 100% name recognition. Ask anyone on the street who the NRA is and they will probably know. Unfortunately, even among gun owners VCDL doesn't have the recognition it should have.

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Yes, this is likely the reason. (100% NRA name recognition).

zoom6zoom said:

Despite VCDL eating the NRA's lunch when it comes to Virginia issues, they do have almost 100% name recognition. Ask anyone on the street who the NRA is and they will probably know. Unfortunately, even among gun owners VCDL doesn't have the recognition it should have.

Click to expand...

NRA? Yes, that stands for National Restaurant Association, right . . . . . . ?