We are told to call our representatives. We are told to write our representatives. But have you?

I woke up recently and I called Rep. Greg Walden. I called his Bend office first, then the La Grande and Medford offices, but I couldn’t get anything but generic voicemail messages. When I tried his D.C. office, someone finally picked up. Now, I must submit that I was frustrated even before I made my first phone call.

See, I’d spent five years of my life in the Marine Corps, and a year and a half of that in Afghanistan. I carried an M16A4 when I fought in that war. Marines carry that weapon because it was designed to shoot and kill enemy combatants. If you don’t know what it looks like, you could search “M16A4” or if it’s quicker, try “AR-15.” They are nearly identical, right? The major difference is the M16 is used to fight wars, while the AR-15 is used to shoot children or country music fans. Obviously, the shooting in Florida was on my mind.

So my question for Greg was simple: “Would he support any kind of legislation that would restrict access to assault rifles or support any legislation that would take steps to prevent another mass shooting?”

To be honest, I didn’t really expect a yes for this question, but, what I received was unexpected. I got a non-answer. I got it over and over again. The person on the other line would reply, “I haven’t personally spoken to him recently, but I’ll pass along your concern”, or something to that effect, and hang up. I kept calling but started the conversation by explicitly stating, before asking any questions, that I was calling to get his opinion, not to convey my own. But when I asked the question, I got the same response, each time frustrating me a bit more.

I persisted, only I added in a second, much more pointed question, in an attempt to get an actual answer. “Is Greg Walden opposed to armed militias taking federal land by force?” I asked. I thought this was a simple yes, but I kept getting that same scripted non-response about how they hadn’t spoken to him and they will share my views with him. I tried this at least five more times, and I still do not have an answer to either question.

On my last attempt, I threw them a curveball. I told the person on the other line that I was going to reach out to my local newspaper and tell them that no representative working for Greg Walden could answer either of those very specific questions. It was at that time that the representative on the phone became very concerned with getting me an answer. She asked for my contact information so they could speak with Greg Walden and get back to me with a response.

It was a bit discouraging that the only way I could get them to engage with me is if I told them that the interaction would be made public. It was as if they only seemed to care if I told other people about this experience.

You’d think a publicly elected official would be happy to share their views, well, publicly. I guess Greg is just that kind of representative, but since I haven’t personally spoken to him recently, the only thing I can do is pass along my concern.

— Sam Lytle lives in Bend.