Last month, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down California’s “large capacity” magazine ban. It was a huge victory for gun rights advocates and a perfect illustration that elections really do have consequences.
As predicted, and like clockwork, California’s Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, filed a motion with the court for an en banc review of the panel’s ruling. That move was made both in the hopes that a review by the full Ninth Circuit will go the other way and to delay for as long as possible the day when standard capacity magazines can once again be sold in the Golden State.
Among the many groups that have filed amicus briefs urging the Ninth to grant an en banc review of the ruling — along with the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego and gun control operations like Everytown, Brady and Giffords — were three LGBT groups; Pride Fund to End Gun Violence, Equality California, and Gays Against Guns.
In their brief, the three organizations argue that gun violence “disproportionately affects amici’s members and the communities they serve.” They claim that if the three-judge panel’s ruling is allowed to stand, lifting the ban on standard capacity magazines “would put the LGBT community at elevated risk of injury and death.”
Not every LGBT group agrees. One of which, California-based Armed Equality, filed its own brief in the case asking the court to let the ruling stand so that all armed individuals — regardless of orientation or gender — will have at their disposal all of the tools that are best suited to defend themselves and their families.
What’s more, Armed Equality has a few choice words for the three groups that are working so hard to keep LGBT people disarmed and vulnerable to the attacks they say are so often directed their way. Here’s Armed Equality’s open letter, originally published on their Facebook page and reprinted here with permission:
Dear, Pride Fund to End Gun Violence, Equality California, and Gays Against Guns Los Angeles (yes GAG…),
On behalf of the millions of responsibly well-armed LGBTQ Americans in this country, f**k you.
You don’t speak for us.
You don’t speak for LGBTQ activism.
You don’t speak for LGBTQ activists.
You don’t know what you’re talking about.
Stop trying to criminalize responsibly well-armed LGBTQ Americans in this country. We reject you and your weak, useless, counterproductive, nonsensical arguments.
We are proud to support the California Rifle and Pistol Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and the Second Amendment Foundation in opposing the ridiculous, unconstitutional, and immoral criminalization of the tools we carry daily to effectively protect our at-risk lives and our at-risk community.
We are proud to have worked with the Firearms Policy Coalition in submitting our own amicus brief in opposition to the criminalization of STANDARD capacity magazines.
Your pathetic and deplorable attempt to use the Pulse Nightclub massacre to push your astroturfed anti-civil rights agenda is as nauseating as it is inaccurate.
We couldn’t help but notice you failing to mention in your brief how law enforcement waited outside for approximately 2+ hours before entering the building. They protected themselves above all else and left us on our own.
We know that it’s up to us to protect ourselves in the initial moments of an active threat.
We know that there are more firearms in the US than there are human beings.
Our daily carry is a radical act of love for our community, for those we love, and for ourselves, because WE KNOW OUR LIVES ARE WORTH DEFENDING WITH FORCE IF NEEDED.
We understand that Armed Equality is REAL equality.
Sincerely,
Armed Equality®
National Pro Self Defense LGBT Civil Rights Group