Write your congressperson? Maybe don't...

I sent my final (as of now) letter to my senator, Dan Lauwers, today. Unlike all of my previous letters, this letter did not focus on a victim of gun violence. Instead I conveyed my utter disappointment in the lack of response I’ve received from Lauwers. Although I’ve written a few letters to other legislators, the bulk of the letters I’ve written since last May have been addressed to Lauwers. And while I certainly could have expressed my desire for much stronger gun laws in our nation, my belief that we must reinstate the ban on assault-style weapons, I’ve been restrained, considering my reader. I have, for the most part, simply appealed to him to allow a number of bills dealing with safe gun storage to have a hearing on the floor of the state senate, to be debated, to be voted upon, aye or nay.

At least 20 letters were sent directly to Lauwers’ office. Most of these blog posts have been tweeted directly at him.

And what I have heard from my elected representative, the same representative currently running for reelection and asking for my vote?

Crickets.

And so that is the basis of my letter today. All my life I’ve believed that average citizens can participate in government by contacting their representatives. We’re told that, right? And so I did. How utterly disheartening to receive nothing in response. Put aside any misguided hope that I might make a dent in his thinking, might cause him to reconsider his hardened attitude toward gun laws in Michigan. Don’t I at least deserve an acknowledgement, a response that says, “I see your point, but I disagree”?

Well, I guess my vote does not matter to the good senator.