State gun control advocacy tactics and resources.
BACKGROUND
Enacting state laws to regulate firearm use, availability, or manufacture is one plausible strategy for preventing firearm-related injuries. Organizations that use a wide range of advocacy tactics may be successful in promoting gun control policies.


OBJECTIVE
To describe tactics commonly used by groups that advocate for state gun control laws and to assess whether financial resources were associated with groups' use of these advocacy tactics.


METHODS
We identified 679 local and state organizations potentially active on state-level gun control issues in 1998 and mailed a 153-item questionnaire to the groups' leaders.


RESULTS
Organizations' use of 35 gun control advocacy tactics.


RESULTS
Seventy-nine percent (n=538) of groups responded to our survey, and, of those eligible, eighty-one percent (n=207) completed questionnaires. Organizations commonly used public education, media, and legislative lobbying tactics, and fewer engaged in electioneering and litigation. Except for lobbying, no associations were found between groups' use of advocacy tactics and their level of financial resources.


CONCLUSIONS
Organizations advocating for state gun control laws have a varied tactical repertoire, with fewer using electioneering and litigation than other approaches. Financial resources do not appear to be the determining factor in the advocacy methods employed.
Zakocs
R C
RC
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. rzakocs@bu.edu
Earp
J A
JA
Runyan
C W
CW
D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003254:Consumer Advocacy / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005389:Firearms / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008119:Lobbying; D011640:Public Policy; D013219:State Government; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control*