Uncle directs me to (another) editorial written by Laura Washington about gun control. You might recall Ms. Washington from previous entries, where she was complaining that the “gun-lobby” was kicking tail six ways from Sunday. Her new editorial really isn’t much different from the old one, except this time she is entreating the “progressives” to get out there and take over the internet or something.
The national news polls suggest that the majority of Americans support more gun control.
I guess you’re not reading the same polls that I’m reading. Saying that the majority of Americans “support more gun control” is misleading; especially when you look at the kind of questions that are often asked on these sorts of polls.
Through organizing, the Internet, and plunking down plenty of cold hard cash, the gun lobby has proven it is ready for primetime. Meanwhile, its opponents are languishing in the wee-hours of late-night local cable.
Who exactly is this “gun lobby”? Because like Uncle, no one has offered to pay me for doing this yet – which is one of the key things that sets the pro-gun community apart from the Brady’s etc. People like Uncle, Sebastian, the Other Sebastian, and myself aren’t doing this for the money; we’re in it for our own personal reasons.
Marches may generate publicity, but they don’t influence decision makers. If we are going to keep pistols and assault rifles away from the playlots, family shopping malls and our colleges and universities, progressives must “bare” our arms.
You guys have tried. Robyn Ringler, the Brady Blog, et al tried and ultimately couldn’t handle it. The problem is that the entire anti-gun argument is based on emotion, and it doesn’t stand up. It took nothing more than three or four dedicated posters on the Brady blog to get them to disable comments, because they were tired of the blog being used to disseminate progun information. That’s not an “army”, it’s four guys with some free time.
The NRA has built a juggernaut of a website that networks gun advocates from hither to yon. A modest investment and some digital ingenuity could pave the way for digital networks in black churches, sororities and other civic groups in black urban America to fight back.
You know, that’s the funny thing. The NRA didn’t build this “juggernaut”. We built it ourselves; and contrary to popular belief, do not take our marching orders from the NRA. While I am an NRA member, and often champion their cause, the pro-gun blog network sustains itself without some dark cabal of NRA leaders pulling our strings. Shocking, I know.
Women and the African-American church—get them behind the keyboard, and you’ll unleash a thunderous counterpunch to the gun lovers’ old one-two.
African Americans have plenty of motivation. According to a recent report by the U.S. Justice Department, nearly half the people murdered in the United States in 2005 were black. Most lived in cities and were felled by guns. While blacks make up about 13 percent of the nation’s population, they comprised 49 percent of all murder victims.
I have a better idea – instead of targeting the implements that were used in these murders, why not target the actual cause of the crime? Why not have those women typing letters about reducing poverty, increasing educational opportunities, and rejuvenating the inner city? How many of those 49% of murder victims were involved in criminal or gang related activity? Why not call your senator about the deplorable inner-city conditions in some of America’s major cities?
The anti-gun crowd has tried to embrace new media, but they did it wrong. The new media forum thrives on discussion and open exchange, and when you create echo chambers that essentially amount to the shouting of your own ideals to no audience, you’re doing it wrong. Like a lot of the other pro-gun community, I would welcome honest, open debate; of course I don’t think I’ll get it any time soon.
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