Dear gun industry

Dear gun industry,

Thanks for not being horrible. I know that may sound a little bit like a back-handed compliment, but hear me out. Lately, my political newsfeed outside the gun community has been largely overrun with conservatives offering commentary that amounts to little more than “guys rule girls drool!” Whether it’s gamergate, the feminist reaction to a very smart man wearing a very dumb shirt, Lena Dunham, or pretty much anything else; lately it seems that the conservative community’s reaction has been to come completely unglued. Regardless of whether it’s an instance of actual radical feminist craziness, or just Hollywood people being Hollywood people, for whatever reason the conservative commentator community has lost it. Just lost it. The problem is that it’s gone so far that even when they’re offering legitimate criticism of something that is actually horrible, it’s going to get lost because everything is “bitches, amirite?”

But not the gun industry. Honestly, gun industry, good job. I know it’s been hard, and sure there are holdouts in the industry that don’t like girls in the clubhouse, but for the most part? You have done a really good of not being terrible, and in fact being awesome and welcoming women into the industry. Like I said, you don’t always get it right, but you’re doing pretty well, bro. You’re doing pretty well.

Let’s keep it up, okay? Don’t get crazy, don’t lose your mind, stay focused. It’s not often that we as the firearms industry can say that we’re leading the conservative community in the fight for gender equality, but hey, let’s take this win this one time and be proud of it. While other circles of the conservative community are talking about legitimate rape and stepping on their meat, we’re actually doing a pretty good job. Keep it up.

20 Comments

  1. I’m sorry to hear that the sources you pay attention to dislike child abuse, sartorial policing, or exchanging se-xual favors for positive product reviews. We unfortunately dwell in a clickbait Internet where outrage generates revenue. My humble advice? Find more nuanced and articulate conservative commentators if you wish to stay sane in a mad world. I can only praise the work of Jack Donovan, Colin Lidell, and Richard B. Spencer. Cheers!

  2. My broader point is that nobody is collectively blaming women for the actions of three people. The intersection of hard left politics and clickbait advertising is what conservatives are lamenting. To construe this as a widespread pattern of gynophobia is dishonest.

    1. You know, I’d like to believe you, but no one is writing “think” pieces about how bad clickbait advertising is; they’re writing pieces about how terrible it is that some dude is getting in trouble for wearing a stupid shirt.

        1. This is the same Jack Donovan that supports White Nationalists and was a former rep for the Church of Satan.

          Well, my days of taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.

  3. “Whether it’s gamergate, the feminist reaction to a very smart man wearing a very dumb shirt, Lena Dunham, or pretty much anything else; lately it seems that the conservative community’s reaction has been to come completely unglued.”

    If you think those events represent conservatives “coming unglued” and “losing it”, you need to find more numerous & more objective news sources. Because reality does not support your opinion. Not even close.

    Or, maybe, stick closer to writing about the subject that you are best qualified to pontificate on (guns) and leave the politics & social commentary to more learned hands.

    Two pieces of free advice, which you are entitled to freely ignore. Knowing your personality, I know where I will be placing my bet…LOL

  4. Women are contributing to society in greater numbers, in greater proportion, and with greater economic and political power. This is happening regardless of our political background.

    Put simply; if we do not welcome women aggresively into the shooting sports, in a few decades we will not have any !If General Petraeus and Bill Clinton have the right to defend themselves separate to whatever they do in their personal lives, so does Lena Dunham and Zoe Quinn. We should act accordingly.

  5. Thanks Caleb. As title sponsor of the recent Lady 3-Gun we at Brownells know there is a fine line to walk. Ideally we’d like women to shoot in the same matches as men, the success of the match shows that many of them simply don’t want to. I’ve shot 3-Gun for several years and see the same 15 to 30 women at the matches. The other 160 have been hiding, and not shooting. Hopefully having been at a match like L3G will give them confidence to go to others but if not, then we (the industry) should do more women’s events. I just want to see men and women using their guns. The OWAA writer’s conference had an early “women only” session on range day. Huge success and one more indication that we men must intimidate the women that come to the range.Nice to see Shelly there, hope she had a great time.

  6. I appreciate your post. I, too, am grateful to find retailers, firearms media sources, and everyday men involved in shooting sports and firearms instruction to be welcoming. I couldn’t care less that much of the enlightened attitude came about to either make more money or to ensure the preservation of the 2A and our right to use firearms in self-defense. Heck, the only pushback (if it can even be called that) that I ever received for being a female shooter was when I served in the military and some of my fellow soldiers grumbled that they could shoot just as well as me, but nobody saw fit to comment positively on their skills. Anyhow, I just volunteered to be the webmaster for a non-profit, local arms collectors association whose membership is overwhelmingly represented by white men over the age of 60. Each member that I’ve met has acted genuinely pleased at my presence… in a non-patronizing and non-creepy manner. We’ve all come a long way, baby!

    1. Janine, glad to hear your experiences have largely been positive. I’ll probably learn more soon: I’ve been teaching my 69-year-old, recently widowed mother to shoot. Today she took & passed her TN HCP class. Go, Ma Kettle!
      Good to hear about the experiences with the non-profit. I’m a Cruffler. Most of the collecters I’ve known are pretty good people. There will always be exceptions, though…
      If I shot next to you, I’d notice that you’re female (being male, I kinda notice those things), but so what? I’d probably also be busy noticing that you shoot better than I do. I’m not Elmer Fudd, but I’d bet you practice a lot more than I do, & that always pays off.

      1. Go, Ma Kettle! I once helped out a local shooters club that put on a “women-only” clinic. Ages ranged from 15-80. I’ll always fondly remember the 80-year-old lady’s response when I asked why she decided to participate… “Well, Honey, I’ve become a bit more worried about the 2-legged kind of predator than I have the bears out here.” As for the collectors in NWMACA, they are good men. I look forward to learning from them. Just hope they don’t hold my tendency to buy Rugers against me too much.

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