After spending the early part of the afternoon sat in one of her favorite coffee shops, down IRC Avenue, watching the world go by, Maria had seen something occur that troubled her. Thoughts heavy on her mind, she had headed home, thinking to prepare a short speech on the topic, and now re-emerged on the streets to share those thoughts.

Good afternoon all.

As I was drinking my coffee earlier on in the day, I noticed an event unfold before my eyes. It was the delivery of the report on death of Fleshnbonez, an unsponsored Goomba who was tagged as a former member of Buscetta. (If you don't recognize the name, don't worry, I also forgot about him from the day he was authed til the day he died.)

Now, this death was met with disapproval from somebody who noticed that Fleshnbonez was indeed tagged. This lead to my questioning of why there was a problem, as I had seen no sign of a protection order and had subsequently assumed that there was none, although I hasten to add that I not the shooter - I just thought that I hadn't noticed one being given on my more recent strolls down the streets and therefore didn't see why anybody was speaking with disapproval on the shot that had been taken. 

So, anyhow, as it transpires, there was a protection order given out on the tagged former members of Buscetta. However, rather than being given on the streets as tends to be the tradition of our world, it was given out only by mass mail. Now, that's all well and good, except, there are no mail boxes where I have been for the last few days. I never got that memo. I understand that my case is an unusual one, but if we rely on mass mail only to put this kind of protection order in place, how many other people don't know this? Newcomers to our shores don't receive mail from the past, even if it is something that most people know, and the postman cannot preemptively put this news into their mailboxes for when they move in. It's not unlikely that a person inclined towards wacking could shoot an unsponsored Goomba after just a day or two. 

As it is, I'm sure there are more people than just myself out on our streets wondering why the hell the person to put the protection order in a mass mail couldn't be bothered to also leave a notice on the streets, but more than that, in not having received the mass mail, we also do not actually know how long the protection order is left to run. To see people punished for breaking such a poorly advertised protection order would be a crying shame for our world. I spoke out several months ago on issues surrounding protection orders, and I'll be the first to admit that I despise the culture where the only times we see the vast majority of leaders out on our streets being for auths and protection orders with the occasional thread to explain a specific move or decision. But that doesn't mean a culture where we shrug our shoulders and punish others for the laziness of those leading our world is desirable or even acceptable. 

The fact is, if a protection order is to be taken seriously and to be followed - basically, if the protection order is to be successful in protecting those that it intends to protect - the information needs to be made clear, open and easily accessed by all in our world. The only way I can think of to do this, is by virtue of making this type of announcement in the streets. 

I'm not sure if Godfather Starscream (I'm told it was he who sent the mail setting the protection order) has some fantastic excuse for why no such proper public announcement of this protection order appeared on our streets - for all I know, perhaps the dog ate his speech. What I do know is that as somebody who has missed this announcement, had I inadvertently broken the protection order and seen Godfather Starscream push to have me punished, I would be downright angry that his half-arsed advertising of this order had lead to my death. 

At the same time if this lapse of common sense in properly advertising protection orders were allowed to slide and we saw, as with the introduction of 14 day protection orders which now tend to be the norm, all of our leaders only sending out mass mails on protection orders rather than giving a speech where everyone can see the information at any time, we couldn't reasonably expect leaders to remind every single person who may not have seen every single order of each one, all of the time. There will come times where many protection orders are valid once and to have this information available openly in the streets seems to me like the best solution for everybody.

Protection orders come at a cost. Not a large cost, but the cost is that if somebody truly cares about keeping people alive, they need to ensure that the rest of the world knows about it. That might mean it takes them five or ten minutes of their time to make a proper announcement, but I would've personally thought that if the lives of the people they were trying to protect were worth enough to them to protect them to start with, they'd be worth that time. 

I came to the streets today because I don't want this to slide. Because I don't want this to become the norm. Because I truly believe that if it does slide, if it DOES become the norm, that it is a terrible, terrible step backwards for our world. We hear time and time again that we want the streets to have more value, so what kind of message do we give out when leaders fail to even make a cursory appearance to announce a protection order? I personally cannot justify it and I'd be interested (although not expecting) to see if Starscream can make any kind of justification for this.

Thank you all for your time.

Engaging in a long night of drinking, Deadpool notices a lady speaking in the streets. At first he was thinking as some do. "Here we go again, all quantity and no quality." However as she continued he realized this was something more, something he had been thinking about himself, something even he might have made his own speech about under a different time and circumstance.

"Maria, thank you for bringing this to the attention of those who may not have noticed it. I think that this was certainly a misstep. I firmly believe the best way to make something publicly known is to come here to the streets and speak it to our community. As you have stated, other forms of communication sometimes have their way of not making it to everyone's hands. I don't think this should slide either, nor should it.

Going off topic but still sticking with the main point. I've also seen recently Godfathers not even attending the coronation of his or her own auths. The lack of even the minimum amount presence in the streets to do this, I think, shows a sad state of affairs."

I am walking down the street slowly, surreptitiously looking from side to side for any schlubs to roll, and I hear a voice.  I stop by the lamppost and listen closely. 

What?  All important issues need to be shouted on the streets or they don't really count?

My mailbox is bulging daily and I take the time to read all that stuff - much of it mere announcements - but I pass them along to those who need to read them and my assumption is that they do.  And now we are being told that it only really counts if it is spoken on the streets?  Weird!!  Not everyone even looks at who is on the street while they are creeping from shadow to shadow.  I dunno about all of this. 

I walk away from the corner shaking my head at all of this.  I must consider this more carefully.

Curtis listens to Maria's speech and thinks back to all the stories he'd been told of generations past and their approach to this type of situation. He also considered his own bloodline's development and decided to speak

"This is an interesting topic as it can, as you say, cause much confusion. I remember reading stories from old generations of my family where this type of situation would be handled very differently."

Taking out a small silver hip flask he took a swig before continuing

"In the oldest records I have, if your leader died you had nothing. It was entirely up to you to show up, figure out what had happened and try to find a safe place to live. There was nothing on earth to protect you and the world's guns would hunt you with ruthless efficiency. In most cases it was not even permitted for a family to take in a member from an extinct crew and they might even be taken out themselves for doing so. It was real dog eat dog and many thrived on the outright brutality of it.

Times moved on though and our society's approach to this, as with everything, slowly evolved. Various stages passed, eventually arriving at the street message stage you refer to. Simple and effective it seemed the best solution. Clear protection orders with clear time limits and everyone knew where they stood. As a system it works flawlessly with understood rules and punishments all round.

Now times may have changed again. Its a long time since my kind has walked these streets but if the rules have changed then I'm of the opinion it's up to me to get up to speed and figure out what the current system is. Sure I may have my own opinions about what the most effective system for any situation may be but that is pretty much irrelevant. The fact is I live under those in power and the rules they lay down. If they elect to manage a problem in a given way it's up to me to learn that and live accordingly. They are in charge. If I don't like it, tough shit. 

As for newcomers not understanding the situation. You're right, many might not understand, several may fall foul of this and die. That's life. You won't find any family line who's beginnings were not littered with easily avoidable deaths from such simple misunderstandings. That's the nature of this thing and an inevitable consequence of learning. This time around when I returned and encountered crewless mobsters with no information in the streets, I was long enough in the tooth to go and ask people what the situation was. A very simple step that avoids needless death."

Looking around at the faces listening, he tries to conclude his point.

"Your issue with the system in place would seem to boil down to the old expression, 'if you don't like it, rank up and do something about it'. Through peaceful influence or violent confrontation. If you can't, then learn to live with it. "

If you pull the trigger on anyone, the responsibility lies with you, nobody else.

I would be surprised if every family here didn't have a rule concerning shooting tagged unsponsored and those rules usually carry a caveat like "if you are unsure check with someone in the hierarchy first". If you choose to contravene your own family's rules and run the risk of shooting someone without all the facts then you should accept the consequences. Sometimes the brain would be best engaged before the trigger finger. 

I'm tired of seeing redundant protection orders stapled around the streets for other families to pointlessly acknowledge their members will be following them, when they either will or they won't regardless of what their leader said. Unless there is an exception to the standard practice of "you can't shoot tagged unsponsored", I don't see what there is to gain by bringing it to the streets. 

I suppose it allows people an excuse for their own mistakes though.

Trixie, did you actually read the speech? 

My mailbox is bulging daily and I take the time to read all that stuff - much of it mere announcements - but I pass them along to those who need to read them and my assumption is that they do.  And now we are being told that it only really counts if it is spoken on the streets?  Weird!!  Not everyone even looks at who is on the street while they are creeping from shadow to shadow.

Congratulations to you for reading everything that reaches your inbox, have a gold star? I'm guessing you forward these announcements to the crew? Well done, top of the class?

This is about the people who miss those announcements though - not that they don't read them, that they just never get them. Not because their upper structure didn't dutifully mass forward the mass mail, but because they weren't there to get them at the time. I didn't receive mail in the funeral home. New members of our world appear after the initial mass mail and never get it. That kind of thing happens. Of course the protection order counts in that it'll still be expected to be respected whether it's on the streets or not, but to not have it on the streets undermines the hell out of it. Maybe not everyone looks at who is on the streets, but if the protection order is here, they at least have the chance to see it if they look.

Curtis,

As for newcomers not understanding the situation. You're right, many might not understand, several may fall foul of this and die. That's life. You won't find any family line who's beginnings were not littered with easily avoidable deaths from such simple misunderstandings. That's the nature of this thing and an inevitable consequence of learning. This time around when I returned and encountered crewless mobsters with no information in the streets, I was long enough in the tooth to go and ask people what the situation was. A very simple step that avoids needless death.

While yes, it would occur to the experienced to ask what the situation is, do we actually have enough people in our world at the minute to be lazy about putting information across and to be blase about people falling foul of something that they haven't actually been told? When the population is as small as it is compared to the size that the set up of our world needs it to be, I'd say that's all the more reason for everybody who can to try to make sure these avoidable deaths don't happen, because there is a good chance that they'll put people off our way of life. And posting this protection order in the streets would also be a very simple step.

It is interesting to think on how the mechanics of protection and protection orders have changed over the years, and I wonder if it might not be best for our world to go back to the original way of doing things, where no protection orders of any kind existed - it'd probably give rise to more loyalty in our world, if we did that, but in the situation that we have where we do have these orders and where breaking them can be punished by death, they at least need to be properly advertised. 

<font color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)"> Romwulf, I'd actually </font>hazard<font color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)"> to guess that most of that kind of rule say something about not shooting unsponsored, tagged members that are under a protection order. So if the Godfather setting that order is too lazy to ensure that everyone has the chance to see it by putting it somewhere that everyone can read it, then that, to me, is their mistake. Upper structures aren't always online to ask these questions and some will fear missing out on the shot. But to me, at the end of the day, if a Godfather wants a protection order followed, it is that same Godfather's responsibility to make sure that everybody knows to follow it. If they don't do that and it gets broken, then tough shit. If people break this kind of order in full awareness of it, then it's absolutely their fault. But they can't do it in full awareness when the Godfather in question is too lazy to make his announcement public. </font>

Ouh Maria shut up u 2 faced cunt 

Now, Starscream, I'd drafted out my response to everybody else before you came and gave yours, so I'll take the time to give your response the attention it deserves. 

First of all, thank you for actually taking the time to respond here. The regularity with which we see you taking time out to visit our streets indicates that you must be a very busy man with far too little free time to grace us with a glimpse of you. It is, however, always nice to see a Godfather on our streets and nicer still to see them actually facing up to any criticism of them.

The niceties observed, lets actually break things down a little.

When comparing the number of times this current "mass mailed" protection order has been ignored/broken to the traditional way of issuing them [Street post] I can't see an increased number of violation.

What does this tell us?
That the majority of, if not all crews have a well functioning set of rules, an involved upper structure and in my case; also sub crew leaders who follow through with the mentoring of new members and making sure that ALL members have understood the rules before being "let out into the world" and last but not less importantly members with common sense and accountability.

You aren't going to be seeing a massive amount of violations of the protection orders due to this, because this doesn't affect massive amounts of people. That doesn't mean that the issue isn't worth discussing, because any lives lost to the laziness of a Godfather who can't be bothered to issue a protection order properly is a grave shame to our world. But dishonorable discharge from this world is rare and the undoing of that action rarer still, so the majority of people this affects will be the younger ones and many will be the newer bloodlines to our world. 

What it tells us is that the majority got the mail and that despite the fact that some didn't, on this occasion, there has to my knowledge not been a violation by anyone unaware of the protection order itself. That doesn't mean we should encourage such sloppy arranging of protection orders, however. This is because the lowest standards are easily copied by others and next time somebody chooses to not properly advertise their protection order, they might not be quite so lucky.

At the end of the day, YOU wanted the protection order, so it is YOUR responsibility to make the world aware of it. 

And "accountability" is exactly what I've been promoting and encouraged among my lieutenants and sub crew leaders.

So, Starscream, while I applaud your attempts to promote and encourage accountability across the structures of your district, I must ask where your own accountability comes in to this.

As I've said, when YOU set a protection order, it is YOUR job to make sure that everybody knows about it. You are the ones wanting others to holster their guns, so why do you try to make it the responsibility of somebody else to make this happen? Frankly, if you can't be bothered to make the world aware of your request, why the hell should other leaders rush to accommodate you? Why should their job be made more difficult by the fact that you were too lazy to take responsibility for your own protection order by making it clearly and easily accessible to everybody?  

A crew operated by an experienced leader has a set of fail-safes written in the rules in order to prevent any unpredicted eventualities such as unsponsord member from the sudden death of a leader.

So fuck every not so experienced leader who does their best to keep everybody in line but hasn't quite covered every single eventuality in their rules but then again shouldn't have to write their rules around what other people can and cannot be bothered to do? 

A Godfather who can be bothered to set a protection order properly prevents even more unexpected eventualities from the sudden death of a leader.  

So why this speech?
It seems to me that you simply want to minimize or maybe even remove that minimum amount if responsibility required by and put on crew leaders when it comes to communicating orders to their crew, dumbing down the citizen of the six cities and instead move all responsibility to a simple street post;
"If it isn't in the street than it does not exist."

And by doing so you're presenting a "loophole" in the system and encouraging random shooters.

Why this speech?

Because, in all honesty, since the introduction of districts, the rank of Godfather has meant less and less. And I'm not going to sit here and not bat an eyelid as it gets dragged down further by a lack of willingness to make announcements that protect someones own people. It is not the job of other crew leaders to protect former members of your district after you have chosen to remove their leader. It might be something that they are willing to do, but clearly that has not always been the way of this world, as Curtis said. 

I'm not presenting a loophole in the system, in my opinion. I'm presenting an oversight by you. If you truly feel as though my pointing any of this out has put your former members in danger, then I have a suggestion for you - put the protection order in a speech and give it on the streets so that nobody has the chance to say they didn't know! Or is that a little too much like asking you to take responsibility for your own protection order, and therefore far too radical? 

I deliberately chose to only mass mail the protection order in order to draw attention to what it means to be a crew leader.
That we as leaders cannot escape responsibility for the action of our members in the absence of a street speech proclaiming protection orders.

And I deliberately chose to write a speech about the lack of the street speech because I believe that the responsibility is on the Godfather setting the protection order to ensure it is followed, rather than on everyone else to do your job (protecting your people) for you.  

But hey, I'm glad that if any of your own former people lost their lives due to the lack of awareness on your protection order, that you got to make a point out of it. 

I suggest the same thing that I've implemented in my HQ and encouraged my lieutenants to do;
A notice board in the HQ with all active and ongoing orders/protection orders/events that my members are required to take part of every morning and regularly before starting their rounds and activities.

Interesting idea and one that it would doubtless be nice to see spread more widely. But doesn't take away from the fact that if someone wants to set a protection order, they should probably take responsibility for ensuring that everyone knows about it. 

Rowulf, I also meant to say, that the times on protection orders can vary, so having the information on the expiration date and time to hand is also one of the upsides of a short speech on the matter. 

 Ouh Maria shut up u 2 faced cunt 

Maria feels her eyes fill with tears of pride. 

excecu, thank you so much for your kind words.

You have no idea how hard it is, day in and day out, working as I do for people to realize what that I am genuinely one of the biggest cunts in existence. You don't know what it's like to have that kind of work acknowledged for all to see, so it is with the greatest joy and honor that I accept your recognition. 

I would like to thank many people for bringing me to this point. 

I would like to thank Jono, for pointing out this momentous event. He truly shall never know the depth of the happiness that I feel over it. I would like to thank Mako, for being my Godfather, and making me a little bit more of a cunt with each passing day. I would like to thank Kyubey, for being confused as to whether or not he is a cat or a bunny, because my feelings of lacking understanding on the matter make me more cunty by the minute. PaulHeyman, I would like to thank you for your many shouted speeches on the achievements on your client. This kind of speech gives me the drive to go on being a cunt. MissPinky I would like to thank you for always having beer and conspiracies. They make me cuntier by the hour!

Maria jumps back into her coffin and waits for Vaelin_Al_Sorna to walk back past it on his way home, ready to jump out of it shouting "BRAINS!" to scare him.

Walking through the streets, Paul notices a small gathering. He spots Maria, her eyes filled with tears of pride at the words of excecu, and begins his own speech.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY NAME... IS PAUL HEYMAN.

AND MY CLIENT, MARIA, HAS JUST BEEN CALLED A CUNT IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR STREETS.

Maria, I would like to make it known that I am indeed extremely proud to have been a source of inspiration for your being a cunt. Indeed, I believe I have become a purveyor of excellence in the field of cuntishness, and it is always nice for such recognition to be bestowed upon me personally. 

I would also like to thank excecu for bringing such a fine example of cuntery to our attention. Truly, it is always great to see examples of this dying art in its full glory, and it is to the credit of Maria that it is her you have so deservingly bestowed this title upon. She is absolutely the best cunt we have and it is always nice to see that recognised on our streets.

Paul hails down a passing cuntwagon, loads Maria into her coffin and heads back with her in the cuntwagon to Mako's HQ.

Inside her coffin - which was rather comfy, cushioned and lined in silk - Maria had dozed off waiting for Vaelin to head back this way. Suddenly, she felt herself lurch upwards and be banged down rather hard, before the world started to move. Startled awake, Maria poked her head out of the coffin.

PaulHeyman! I swear you better not be taking me back to the Undertaker, fucker! I don't want to rest... in... peace! 

Having read recent protection orders, and them consisting of barely more than one sentence in virtually every instance, the argument of "laziness" is invalid. It probably takes more, or at the very least, the same level of effort to mass mail everyone as it does to speak one sentence in the streets, so I don't think Starscream decided to avoid making a redundant street thread because he was "too lazy".

As he has already said, the violation of this mass mailed protection order doesn't differ significantly from those being trodden underfoot in the streets, so why can it be criticised? It worked as effectively as all the others and did so without making us all suffer through the ridiculous charade of watching the great and the good nod their heads and offer one sentence acknowledgments or condolences. 

Should the other families have determined not to follow it, why would they automatically follow one made in the streets? I don't think the determining factor in whether or not you're going to abide by a protection order is whether it is announced in the streets or sent to your mailbox. 

It seems really that the only issue you have with this means of announcing the order is that someone may not have access to a protection order due to circumstances beyond their control if they didn't receive a copy of the mail. But in that instance, nothing overrides the aforementioned rule pertaining to shooting or the basic principle that every person using a firearm is responsible for their own firing of it. Whether a protection order is mass mailed, in the streets or stapled to your forehead, any competent individual should engage their brain before they pull the trigger. If they don't, that is a mistake of their own making and one which I hold no sympathy for.

This appears to me to be whole lot of words on what is essentially a non-issue. 

Having read recent protection orders, and them consisting of barely more than one sentence in virtually every instance, the argument of "laziness" is invalid. It probably takes more, or at the very least, the same level of effort to mass mail everyone as it does to speak one sentence in the streets, so I don't think Starscream decided to avoid making a redundant street thread because he was "too lazy".

Actually, most make a speech AND mass mail them, so laziness is not an invalid argument. 

 As he has already said, the violation of this mass mailed protection order doesn't differ significantly from those being trodden underfoot in the streets, so why can it be criticised?

Just because I swing to punch you in the face once and miss, doesn't mean I won't give you a black eye the second time. Just like just because nothing went wrong this time because of it, doesn't mean it won't next time. 

 Should the other families have determined not to follow it, why would they automatically follow one made in the streets? I don't think the determining factor in whether or not you're going to abide by a protection order is whether it is announced in the streets or sent to your mailbox. 

I doubt it is a determining factor in whether you do or you don't, but surely politeness at the least says that if you're going to ask somebody to do you a favour, you make it as easy as possible for them to do it? If you want your members protected, you should make every damn effort to make that happen. 

 It seems really that the only issue you have with this means of announcing the order is that someone may not have access to a protection order due to circumstances beyond their control if they didn't receive a copy of the mail. 

Well, er, yes. Because if they don't know there IS a protection order, they aren't going to worry about following it, are they?

But in that instance, nothing overrides the aforementioned rule pertaining to shooting or the basic principle that every person using a firearm is responsible for their own firing of it. 

However, after a take down, there is not ALWAYS a protection order set. There wasn't one set, for instance, when TheTripleDeuce oversaw the removal of Gimli and AnathemaDevice and their districts. So when some don't set them at all, and others set them for varying lengths, and many have family rules stating only to follow protection orders as far as unsponsored people go... it's not unreasonable to assume that if they don't see an announcement and didn't get the mail, people are going to assume there isn't one. If they then shoot, I seriously do not think they should be blamed over the fact that it wasn't properly announced. Which if there isn't a street speech, to me, it isn't properly announced. That isn't making excuses for anyone who read or ignored the mail, but if you never got the mail and no announcement was made, a lot of people ARE just going to assume there wasn't a pro order, and that isn't down to stupidity, that's down to the logic that sometimes, there isn't a pro order given. 

Whether a protection order is mass mailed, in the streets or stapled to your forehead, any competent individual should engage their brain before they pull the trigger. 

If they don't know it exists, there isn't a huge amount that they're doing wrong, except not being told by the person who set it or on their behalf that it exists. And there's a simple way to prevent that scenario... make a damned speech about it. 

I ponder what Marie has responded and agree that there is a point there – for those who do not even receive mails,, it is possible they would not be informed.  I am not at all sure how many people fall into this category though (I do think it must be relatively small).  However, I must think on this further.

*GASP*  I sit on the curb in dismay.  After all the speeches and now I find out that a speech here is not all that effective anyway? 

HOLY SMOKE  Do you mean to say that protection orders don't do that much good Vaelin?  Then why are people bothering with them?

I stop for a moment to think on this.  Perhaps those who say protections orders are not useful or needed or even wanted have a good point then. 

Blood In Blood Out - it is the policy of Mafia crews going way back.  I would suspect that those of us who join a crew become aware of this and are willing to abide by this in order to run with our crew.  So why on earth does anyone need an order of protection if our boss gets shot?  Tis a mystery!

I stop to take a breath and then another thought occurs to me and - like I am so wont to do - out is comes in words to those who are not sleeping around me.

Oh and Maria - you asked if I read your speech and I say - why no - I didn't.  I did listen, somewhat intently at times and at other times I snoozed because it was so damn long.  Sorry my dear - short attention span and all.  My bad!

I hop off the soapbox I had jumped on and saunter off to my favorite oak tree to grab a snooze.  At least I will snooze until someone else starts to shout at us.

After listening to Warrior Sorna's comment Four found did her research. She called up a boy she had dated a few months ago who worked at the morgue and gave her the run down of bodies that had in fact come from Inglewood, LA. 

These days there are a lot of people that don't clock in daily for their criminal acts. A protection order has almost becomes an order of "Hey, I claim dibs on those guys. When they come back in the next couple of days I'm going to hunt them down myself and get the kill. Everyone else keep your guns off of them." I'm assuming it was members of Inglewood that put those bodies in the ground as I haven't received any letters asking if I had seen anyone take shots at those who are being "protected". 

Speaking of receiving mails, the letter I received about the protection order did say they would be protected for 72 hours. Now, it's late, so I could be wrong, but I think those hours of safety have come and gone. I personally prefer a short protection blanket compared to a week and sometimes two. Why should those who check out from their life of crime for at least seven days be protected for such lengths of time. You snooze, you loose. 

Actually, most make a speech AND mass mail them, so laziness is not an invalid argument. 

If you genuinely think he didn't make a public announcement out of laziness, despite him telling you he didn't and the obvious reality of it being the easiest thing in the world to do, then I guess you won't be swayed. 

Just because I swing to punch you in the face once and miss, doesn't mean I won't give you a black eye the second time. Just like just because nothing went wrong this time because of it, doesn't mean it won't next time. 

Couldn't this be applied to any protection order, ever? 

I doubt it is a determining factor in whether you do or you don't, but surely politeness at the least says that if you're going to ask somebody to do you a favour, you make it as easy as possible for them to do it? If you want your members protected, you should make every damn effort to make that happen. 

They aren't doing you a favour. They are either following your request or they aren't. And, as it happens, this worked as effectively as your advocated route so the extra damn effort wasn't necessary.

Well, er, yes. Because if they don't know there IS a protection order, they aren't going to worry about following it, are they?

The reality is, in order to not have a copy of the protection order, they've either joined the family subsequently since it was announced, in which case it is unlikely they'll be shooting at unsponsored anyway and if they are, they will need to abide by the fundamental principles of using their firearm and their crew rules. Or, more unlikely, they've received a DD and a revival, in which case they should already know the basics and the rules of the family anyway having been in it for a reasonable length of time. Failing to receive the mass mail does not excuse them if they misfire.

That isn't making excuses for anyone who read or ignored the mail, but if you never got the mail and no announcement was made, a lot of people ARE just going to assume there wasn't a pro order, and that isn't down to stupidity, that's down to the logic that sometimes, there isn't a pro order given. 

That is not the logical response of someone training their firearm, that is the response of someone failing to accept responsibility for their own actions after the fact. If I see a target, my first thought is probably something like "woohoo!", closely followed by "why hasn't someone else already shot this person?", which then results in research as to why they haven't been. I don't just find it, check the latest posters in the streets, shrug my shoulders and fire, because I don't have all the information. The onus is on me, the shooter, to find out if I have the green light to shoot or not. That is the logical response of anyone in the muscle end of the family, to find a target, check it's legitimacy and then to kill it. If you can't confirm the first two, you don't move on to the third unless you're prepared to deal with the consequences.

I think everyone should be held accountable for their own actions rather than seek to pass the buck for something they are completely in control of. Nobody is forcing you to shoot anybody else and when you aim at people who might have connections, that might could back to haunt you. That is why your family has rules to protect you from making a fatal mistake whether a protection order exists or not. People need to operate at some minimum level of competency or they will never amount to anything. If I was a boss and my members weren't capable of exercising enough self control, didn't have the wherewithal to check the legitimacy of their target prior to firing at it and couldn't follow my rules, I doubt I would invest much trust in that person when they are actually needed.