There’s been something of a shakeout in the ranks of the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex in recent years. With his bottomless pockets, former mayor Michael Bloomberg boosted the fortunes of Mayors Against Illegal Your Guns. Until, that is, he realized that 1) an embarrassingly large percentage of his membership were themselves illegal and 2) mini Mike doesn’t really make the most sympathetic spokesman for the anti-gun cause. Or anything else, really. The solution: he went out and bought himself (former Monsanto flack) Shannon Watts and Moms Demand Action. Problem solved. Then there’s the Brady Campaign . . .
With the ascendance of Bloomberg’s ultra-well-funded operation, the Brady Campaign’s fortunes have declined. Bummer, right? They just haven’t been able to compete with Mike’s billions and Shannon’s camera-ready, sympathetic schtick and media savvy. And while they were really just figureheads in recent years, the deaths of both James and Sarah Brady didn’t help matters much. Can anyone remember the last time the Brady Campaign moved the anti-gun needle? At all? Anyone? Bueller?
Also taking up some of the oxygen in the anti-RKBA space once dominated by the Bradys are Gabby Giffords’ and Mark Kelly’s Americans for Responsible Solutions. Fortunately for those who care about their gun rights, the ARS is mostly just a spam email generator and fundraising operation. Who knows where all that cash is really going? ARS has no discernible anti-gun advocacy oomph, other than the occasional interview, paid appearance or Congressional testimony by the grievously wounded Ms. Giffords.
So in that landscape, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence seems to have looked around and decided that in order to remain relevant, they had to fill a niche no one else has thought about: that of the bat$hit crazy psychopath at the party. You know the type…there’s always one guy who maybe drinks more than he should, talks a little too loudly and makes everyone else wary and uncomfortable because they’re just not sure exactly what he’s going to do. That’s what the CSGV has become. They’ve decided to differentiate themselves by becoming the Crazy Joe Davola of the civilian disarmament movement.
Case in point: their reaction to yesterday’s theater shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana as evidenced by the advice they offer (above) to their fellow hoplophobes. What’s worse: their followers are totally on board. Some even claim to have tried it already.
The cops scoff? Try a little persistence. The brain trust at CSGV just keeps egging them on.
Hold on. It gets better. Let’s add a little racial profiling to the false police report just to see if that provokes the desired reaction.
Oh wait! Pam has a good idea, too!
Perfect, Pam. That’s using the ol’ noodle.
Keep in mind that these are the same people who call the NRA a bunch of racist insurrectionist wackos for defending a natural, civil, Constitutionally enumerated right.
To be sure, these people are probably the anti-gun equivalent of “keyboard commandos.” You know, all talk and bluster when typing on their MacBook Pros in their slippers or over a venti half calf vanilla soy latte at Starbucks, but they’d never consider actually doing anything like what they’re talking about in the non-virtual world.
Or so we hope. Because when a lawful gun owner is taken by surprise by an over-the-top police response initiated by one of CSGV’s muddled minions and someone is shot, it could get inconvenient (and potentially very expensive) if the person who phoned in the phony threat report is traced back to the CSGV Facebook page.