“Trump’s Victory Has Fearful Minorities Buying Up Guns” trumpets a headline on NBCNews.com. Reporter Ben Popken spoke with gun store owners and customers in Virginia, Georgia, and Texas. Contrary to many expectations, there’s been a bump in firearms sales since the election of Donald Trump. The new sales are being driven by market segments that haven’t in the past comprised a lot of gun buyers: black Americans and gays. Yolanda Scott is one of them.
Yolanda Scott is upgrading the crowbar she keeps in her purse to a small-caliber pistol.
Scott, an African-American, is one of many minorities who have been flocking to gun stores to protect themselves, afraid Trump’s victory will incite more hate crimes.
Gun store owners told NBC News that since November 8 they’re seeing up to four times as many black and minority customers — and black gun groups are reporting double the normal number of attendees at their meetings since the election….
“It’s best that I be proactive,” said Scott, a fiery 49-year-old financial analyst. “I know where I live.”
I can’t say that I’ve ever seen the word “fiery” used as an adjective for the subject “financial analyst.” Also: crowbar? Really? Anyway . . .
Earl Curtis, owner of Blue Ridge Arsenal in Chantilly, Virginia, confirmed an “uptick” in sales after the election driven by black customers. They were, as he put it, “shell-shocked,” looking to buy a firearm for the first time “to protect themselves from ‘race riots and being attacked by racists.'”
In sunny Austin, Texas, Mike Cargill, owner of Central Texas Gun Works who is black himself, reported a large increase in African-Americans buying guns, along with Muslim, Hispanic, and LGBT patrons. (It isn’t quite clear how Mr. Cargill knows that a given patron is gay or a practicing Muslim, since those attributes aren’t always obvious, nor are they required on ATF form 4473.)
Reporter Popken doesn’t spend much time relaying what these new buyers say on the subject of firearms freedom. (Ms. Scott is the only actual purchaser quoted.) Instead, he talks about the fear that blacks, gays, and others apparently feel as the result of President-Elect Trump’s election, attempting to justify that fear as rational.
The evidence of post-election “racial tensions” Popken adduces are vaporous. Popken breathlessly cites reports of harassment from LGBT people coming into the Southern Poverty Law Center, without mentioning that organization’s checkered past (e.g., this SPLC take-down published by The Nation, a left-wing journal that isn’t exactly on the Koch Brothers’ Xmas list). Nor does Popken relay the types of allegations made.
Popken tries to provide some context to Ms. Scott’s purchase of a firearm (I guess, in part, to justify it). He mentions that “as recently as 1987” a group of white supremacists marched in a county that neighbors her home city of Alpharetta. I don’t mean to make y’all feel old or anything, but 1987 was twenty-nine years ago. In fact, 1987 is closer to Democrat George Wallace’s “Segregation Forever” inaugural address in 1963 than it is to November 2016.
As President Barack Obama once said, “Come on.”
So while it appears that there is, indeed, a bit of trepidation in some communities after the election of Donald Trump, a healthy chunk of that fear is being driven by politically-motivated pieces like Mr. Popken’s meant to encourage that kind of hysteria. But if one of the unintended consequences of this fear is that more of America’s law-abiding citizenry become gun owners, then so much the better for all of us. After all, getting someone to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes is a rather effective tool of persuasion.
Good.
The biggest problem I see with this is these people judging by this late behavior are fair-weather tyrant types. If they perceive the body ruling over them is on their side they’re okay with whatever happens to the other side and vice versa.
That attitude is unacceptable. People shouldn’t approve of being ruled over regardless of how favorably that ruler may claim to view you.
A-fukcin-men! The political left, including the MSM, are flipping out because the Presidency has accumulated too much power. Of course they were completely okay with that for the last 8 years and would have continued to be okay with that if Hillary had won. They will be okay with that again when the potential tyrant has the appropriate consonant after their name. I just hope conservatives hold Trump’s feet to the fire. There will be a time when another Obama or Hillary is occupying the WH.
Unfortunately, what you’ve just described is called ‘human nature’. We all have the innate desire to tell others how to live their lives while insisting that they keep out of our own business. Some of us after considering the issue, conclude that it’s worth it to mind our own business if that means others stay out of our’s. But the inclination is there in all of us, which is why libertarianism will never be a dominant political philosophy.
Ah yes the power of doublethink
You understand your words fall on small minds and low IQs right?
They do not care and largely can not understand what you are saying.
They are not going to become lovers of freedom, supporters of gun rights, they are going to buy a gun, be mad, and largely do everything in their power to support the Democratic party and work against our rights.
“Guns for me, but not thee”
“My since of fear, anger, etc valid, yours not”.
Time to smash our enemies.
The Left lives and grows on hysteria.
They move from one hysteria to the other to try to get what they want.
Once they get what they want by hysteria then they find the new next hysteria.
The human being wants to believe in something to justify their existence.
When you don’t believe in God, then you got to find a substitute.
I am using the Trump victory to explain limited government to left leaning types. The power they were eager to give to an ally can now be used against them. A better model is following the constitution and making government so small that there is nothing to fear. The problem is many right leaning folks now see a trump victory as a chance to bully the left and get them back for what obama has done. Shame we cant all be consistent and pricipled.
Principles and an empty sack are worth the sack. They started this fight, it is our responsibility to finish it. If that means making them kiss the curb and giving them a firm stomp to the back of the head, so be it.
You’ve got a sickness, and I don’t think even cowbell will help. Chill out, Obama wasn’t the 2nd impact…
I think you don’t understand why the above mentioned curb stomping is necessary. As a california native and current resident I agree with Pwrserge and here is why.
The left has been inventing and using a entire host crooked, unconstitutional tools to deny citizens their rights and increase government over reach. Now that the right has these tools, the left is busy crying and pooping themselves because they know full well what is possible. Our elected officials (whom we will have to watch like hawks) can use these tools to reverse and roll back many of these infringements of the peoples rights (not just leftists or rightists) and restore the balance between people and government. (Pipe dream there, I know)
This WILL take a curb stomping, and the left and probably some of the right will be howling all the way down. I would love nothing better than to see the ATF, FBI, BLM and NSA picking their teeth out of the gutter and begging for the budget to have some of them put back in.
Also, if some of the minority people feel they need to own a gun and go out and buy one, thats great, because they still have 2nd amendment protections. Welcome to the club.
I understood that reference…
http://imgur.com/gallery/XS5LK
Clearly you do not understand who and what we are fighting, so until you do, please shut the fuck up and do not go in our way.
You do not show mercy our those those who have worked for the better part of the last 100 years to destroy everything we are a nation, culture, people, etc.
You’re one of my least favorite internet morons anywhere. Carry on.
Pwr, Not sure if you are trolling or are that much of a fascist authoritarian? The former is a little weird, the latter requires reading the constitution, understanding natural rights and perhaps some therapy.
Tell that to the left,t they ignore it at every turn, and you expect us to fight with both hands tied behind our backs? No, we are going to win, beat the left into submission and then restore Liberty.
They started this war, we will finish it.
If you’re talking about giving their leftist ideologies a stomp to the curb, so be it. However, the people on the left can be woken up to principles of liberty and we should try and do that.
Sadly no. Liberals will not wake up to the principles of freedom. They are already aware of them. They just have no interest in them. Look at California, Chicago, New York. Do you believe that any of the residents there are going to wake up? They want to tell you how to live. Period. And for the residents in those states who don’t agree with the liberal elite, they are told to move or shut up. I don’t think enough people realize how serious the threat to freedom is. Powerserge is right.
We should point out to them that we were on the verge of civil war if Hillary won. Now we’ve averted that catastrophe and everyone can relax.
https://mcalvanyintelligenceadvisor.com/demoralization-destabilization-insurgency-normalization
“Most of the people who graduated in the sixties, dropouts or half-baked intellectuals are now occupying the positions of power in the government, civil service, business, mass media, educational system. You are stuck with them. You cannot get rid of them. They are contaminated. They are programmed to think and react to certain stimuli in a certain pattern. You cannot change their mind even if you expose them to authentic information. Even if you prove that white is white and black is black. You cannot change the basic perception and illogical behavior. In other words, these people, the process of demoralization is complete and irreversible. To rid society of these people you need another twenty or fifteen years to educate a new generation of patriotically-minded and, and common sense people who would be acting in favor and in the interests of United States society.”
They can not be saved, they are our enemy, they are infected.
You vastly over-estimate the willingness of the left to listen to reason and analysis.
This is perfect simon, I have had many conversations with those on the left and though I can rarely get them to agree with me on every issue, I frequently get them to be more libertarian minded by explaining that liberty means that I cannot force my beliefs on them, but then they cannot force theirs on me. Most see that as a worthy trade based on mutual respect. If we do not convey that respect, it will certainly not be granted to us. I’m all for smashing the progressive machine, but not the innocent people who believe its lies simply because nobody ever showed them a better way. Constitution now and forever.
As was pointed out in a Jack Reacher novel (the one which is currently in the theaters):
If you can’t acquaint an opponent with reason, you must acquaint his head with the sidewalk.
I find it really funny that you’re paraphrasing Trotsky of all people.
@pwserge, illegitimi non carborundum.
The left needs a damn good curb stomping. Figuratively speaking, of course.
Huh, riiiiiiiiight …
Preach it pwrserge. Preach it.
The Progressives deserve a whole lot more than what Trump will serve them.
The pwrserge whiners need to understand metaphors.
Yes, I used this on two leftist colleagues, who were talking gloom and disaster. I suggested that if they are in such fear after the office of POTUS has changed hands, the office has far more power than was ever intended. This was supposed to be set up to where the average person could mind their own and local business and never worry about DC if they so chose (at least in time of relative peace).
I do not think it ever really occurred to these people that they might not hold power forever. This whole “right side of history” dogma is very deeply rooted. They really see themselves as the highest stage of political evolution, and that the ascendancy of leftism is inevitable. I have to admit, I was beginning to fear they were right about the latter proposition, at least for the next few decades.
“I do not think it ever really occurred to these people that they might not hold power forever.”
Nailed it. You flat nailed it. 🙂
And it feels so, so *good*…
The lefties are squealing like a bunch of pigs after they realize they’re in the chute headed for the packing plant, the sun is out after a two-day snowstorm, and I’m getting dug out from a dozen guns on my bench.
Yep, some Godfather is easy on the ears right about now.
Look, Trump only looks like a limited government conservative because the Democrats have moved so far to the left. Trump occupies the space between the center/left and center/right. He is where George Meany or Tip O’Neal was in 1980.
And obviously, these blacks, gays, and Muslims don’t feel fearful enough of deplorable white gun store owners to avoid their stores. They must not be as educated as journalists.
Funny how when these groups make up a fantasy land where Trump is a literal nazi setting up an autocracy, getting ready to put minorities and LGBT people into “camps”, they turn not to signs, safe spaces, or soiling themselves for protection, but guns.
+
The proof is that, if they really were afraid, it would’ve happened already. And, their way late, at this point they’d be better to use their weapons on themselves.
But, it’s nice that some aholes are embracing the notion that guns are an option if you have fear of an uncertain threat.
Hey, if it brings more people into the fold of law-abiding POTG, bring it on. The specious sensationalism of alleged racial tension caused by the election of Trump will pass, but nascent gun owners might just experience a lasting paradigm shift.
Arming communists never ends well. Ask Cuba or Russia.
I suspect that most of these folks are mixed economy advocates (Keynesians even if they don’t know it) rather than communists.
Funny coming from a Soviet block immigrant.
There’s much more irony in your comment than his.
For future reference, the word you were looking for is “bloc”.
Ha! A grammar Nazi supporting a socialist. Too good.
My experience with people who fled the USSR is that they see the left in the US for what they are, know what the left is capable of, and know what needed to be done in Russia to have prevented the 10’s of millions of deaths in the USSR as a result of being nice to the left early on.
Many of the Russian immigrants also know that the USSR provided aid, planning and doctrine to the American left in earnest, starting in the 60’s with the anti-war movement. It was common knowledge there – the press and bootlicker intellectual class here still refuse to admit it.
And the USSR has collapsed and Cuba is teetering. If correlation = causation then it seems like a good strategy to me.
And when the Democratic Party keeps pushing gun control, hopefully these new gun owners will realize their own party does not care for them and they will end up leaving the party.
For the rest of us:
“Specious”: superficially plausible, but actually wrong.
“Nascent”: just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential.
“Paradigm”: a typical example or pattern of something; a model.
How dumb are you?
You really think they will value gun rights, they will stop voting for the party of evil? That they will “see the light” and we will all bath in the light of Liberty`s Illumination?
No, they will not. If they could learn, use and accept facts, and be logical, they would not be leftists to begin with.
This looks like a possible cloud with a silver lining. Some, not all, but some, of these people will go to a local shooting range and test out their newly acquired guns. They might, just might, come to see that POTG are good people overall and realize their “fears” might be unfounded. One thing leads to another and the firearm bought out of “fear” becomes the gateway to many of them changing their minds and realizing, like we do, that the liberals have been lying to them all along. We know that there are racist, homophobic, xenophobic people out there, but not “lurking around every corner waiting to attack” as the libtards say, and we dislike those whack-jobs as much as anyone else.
However, I hope the woman quoted gets informed that she may not be able to just swap the crowbar in her purse for a gat in her locality without risking legal consequences should said purse pistol come to the attention of an LEO in public.
At the very least we can hope some new gun owners will realize it is, in fact, not easier to buy a gun than buy a book or vote.
Yes! Absolutely. Even a faint glimmer can eventually lead a person to the full bright light of reason.
Well, they could move to Cuba instead. They’re pretty tolerant of homosexuals, women speaking out, and blacks. Or not.
Good. Those are future gun rights supporters.
Only if they are reminded and understand the reason the 2A is important. Currently, many of these people still believe that the government is the cure and not the disease. The Trump election is simply explained away by proggie buzz words like “unfairness, oppression, and whitelash.”
That would be nice, some very well could become 2A supporters. Most will probably be a “guns for me and not for thee” type of owner though.
Exercising your Second Amendment right as a bulwark against tyranny in general, is a good thing.
Running around like a chicken with its head cut off and buying guns you cannot handle responsibly just because you’re black or LGBTQA2A and afraid of Trump? That’s just stupid.
What a load of bat guano. The gun shops I frequent(Illinois &NW Indiana)ALWAYS have loads of black,brown,garbed Moose-lims and who knows how many happy folk. And it’s not fear of the KKK or nefarious white dudes. It’s their lawless violent neighborhoods. Anyone with an IQ above 30 can see who committs the vast #s of crimes. The lamestream gets it wrong every time…
Don’t forget those Asian’s, those corn fed Iowa boys got a 100 pounds on’em.
Regardless of the reason, I think more people being introduced to guns for protection is a good thing. It wil give a diverse group of people the appreciation for guns and encourage them to get proper training. They will become less fearful of guns that are carried by law abiding citizens.
Do these people really believe that there will be roving gangs of death squads looking for blacks/browns/gays/etc’s just because DT has been elected? Seems crazy to me, I just hope that these new found gun owners are responsible and find ‘enlightenment’ regarding the benefits if civilian ownership of firearms!!
“He is literally Hitler!!!” Or so they’ve been led to believe…
> Do these people really believe that there will be roving gangs of death squads looking for blacks/browns/gays/etc’s just because DT has been elected? Seems crazy to me
Well, plenty of people really believed that Obama was a secret Muslim plotting to have UN invade US and put Americans in concentration camps. Seems crazy to you? Sure, but there were literally millions of people seriously believing that. If you can understand those guys, you can understand these also. You may think the fear is irrational, but it doesn’t make it any less strong of an emotion.
They probably believe that things could revert to the way they were where I grew up: that especially gays would meet with “accidents” overlooked or even participated in by law enforcement, or like a deputy we had long ago who openly proclaimed that he wouldn’t male any arrests for beating up or even killing “one of them niggers”.
Parts of this country aren’t all that far removed from such a reality. It isn’t unreasonable to fear they may come back, with all the bigots and racists cheering Trump’s election.
This is good. Owning a gun makes you think you can be independent and wonder why the government is all over your back all the time. They say a conservative is a liberal who got mugged. When you own a gun the government mugs you a lot.
‘afraid Trump’s victory will incite more hate crimes’.
Oh do they mean those now going on 700 ‘hate crimes’ that have been reported in the wake of Trump’s election? Well off topic perhaps, but the media is LLYYIINNGG about those Hate Crimes. Because so far every one of those ‘hate crimes’ that the police have investigated turn out to be COMPLETELY fraudulent. So much so that some people have actually been charged for filing a false police report.
Hey, I know that all these leftist and other ‘commuinities’ are scared and all… but you know what? I’m tired of living under SOMEONE ELSE’S fear. If Trump or ‘Trump’s America’ scares you then suck it up and DEAL WITH IN like an adult and move on with your damn life.
That’s exactly what I was thinking this morning. Heard on the radio that “hate crimes” are up “since the election” and I was wondering how they spun the statistics, or if they bothered ginning any up at all. All the media wants to do is stamp their little foot and pout, to the point that if there is ever any real Trump administration malfeasance their reporting on it will be ignored.
Anything bringing more folks into the fold is good, and anyone paying attention to what color they are is a racist (by definition!).
BUT! Who is the fool making light of the claims of racial violence and hate since the election? Have you not turned on the TV since then? Every night, a wide variety of races, screeching hate for everyone and looting, burning, trashing businesses, threatening passersby and officers, blocking traffic and generally terrorizing their own neighborhoods. Starting the very day after the election. The people observed buying arms were exactly correct, there were people out there wishing them harm, and they might need to defend themselves. Who they are afraid of, apparently, are Democrats, particularly Hillary supporters.
Hey, overall this is a good thing. The more diverse the 2A community is, the better. However, their reasons for buying probably aren’t as pro-2A as we’d like to think- not that they need a reason to buy a gun though. They’re falling for media hype that exaggerates and inflames emotions- the same kind of hype that the gun control proponents and the MSM accuse the NRA of perpetuating after every mass shooting.
They should tool up though. When a minority group ceaselessly proclaims violent racism, sexism and homophobia in society, why wouldn’t you tool up? Especially when the authorities can’t be trusted to do what is right, another claim that minority groups consistently make. I’ve never understood how you can claim institutional whatever-ism, yet for the most part be pro-gun control? Especially black people- Ida B. Wells said that “a Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home.” Amen- especially when you truly believe there are extralegal marauders in the night coming for you.
I’ve said it before:
The plural of “anecdote” is not “data.”
LOL, I love that quote! I’ve tried to insert it into conversation whenever appropriate ever since reading it here a few weeks ago… Ok, I WANT to insert it but almost always forget until two or three hours after it would have been appropriate.
Another leftist fantasy from NBCNews.com, written by “reporter” Ben Dover.
These vanguardistas can tool up to protect themselves because people they despise — excuse me, “deplore” — spent years stopping their “common sense” restrictions on citizens owning guns.
Even they can get their guns because the bitter clingers don’t bother writing race, creed, or even political party into their support of human, civil rights.
We should be getting a lot of thank you notes.
Good, I’m warm all over the progressive left is tooling up. As for the curb crunch, I prefer a war hammer, trouble is there’s no HECTOR among their ranks
+1 on the shout out to Blue Ridge Arsenal. I was a member there. You could find all sorts interesting people there. One time my wife and I were shooting next to two guts going through defensive drills who were obviously Russian Embassy security.
While I’m gratified that any segment of society might be encouraged to exercise their second amendment rights, I write the whole thing off as misguided propaganda. I seriously doubt they have any reliable data on the racial makeup of gun buyers since the election.
This paragraph is particularly overwrought, conjuring up century-old incidents and wild speculations about her neighors motives. Racist bumper stickers? I believe it when you show me. And confederate flags? It’s the South. Until the whole Dylan Roof affair, they were everywhere and nobody thought anything about it.
She’s from Alpharetta, Georgia, an affluent and diverse northern suburb of Atlanta. It borders Forsyth County, which in 1912 systematically drove out nearly all its black residents for the next quarter century. After two alleged attacks on white women, a black suspect was lynched and two more were hanged after a short trial. Armed bands of whites began terrorizing blacks, torching homes and churches in night raids, firing through the door, telling them it was time to “get” [out of America] and then seized their homes and land. As recently as 1987 the county saw the marching of 5,000 white supremacists.
Scott still sees racist bumper stickers and large Confederate flags flying from the backs of pickup trucks when she ventures across the county line there to go outlet mall shopping. And she pauses to wonder what motivates her white neighbor to tuck a handgun in his pants before driving to the grocery store.
In the days where kings were common, absolute power was a thing. It was all fine and dandy when the ruler proved kind and benevolent, but what to do when the king died and power was transferred to his halfwit (or malevolent) son?
The people rarely had the capacity to revolt, and often the assorted nobles weren’t unified enough to take on the throne. If the new king was a halfwit, there’d be someone behind the throne pulling the strings, and if the new king was malevolent, he’d fight back.
The progressives in this country are an interesting sort. They claim to prize things like the democratic process and the way our form of government works, but their choices for President reek of a desire for dynastic succession. Prior to the election, I remember seeing a meme where the poster expressed a desire for HRC to take office this time around, and then have the torch pass to Michelle Obama in 2020. Then Chelsea in 2024, and then to the Obama daughters in 2028, 2032, etc…
“It isn’t quite clear how Mr. Cargill knows that a given patron is gay…”
It’s Austin; most of the gay folk around here aren’t exactly subtle about it…
“The only way we can tell (that someone is gay) down in Texas is if they have a haircut like…yours.”
Ron White
Dear new gun owner,
Welcome to the fold.
Aren’t civil rights great?
Yes, they are! There are many other important civil rights, in addition to gun ownership, which the President elect has mentioned/inferred/tweeted about eliminating. Hence the fear of the non majority groups.
Specifically? Other than deporting citizens, which is ridiculous – specifically which civil rights?
Freedom of speech, for example.
Natural rights*
Civil rights are granted by civil authority, natural rights are inherent to every man through natures law/natures God. It is very important that we know the difference.
Like many (most?) of America’s gun owners, I was taught by my gun-owning parents the important safety rules and serious responsibilities of possessing such tools. Others learned these things in the military, police academy, or Boy Scouts.
So what about these new gun owners, who are driven by recent, propaganda-induced fear, not by a lifetime of freedom-based values? How many of them will take an NRA Basic Pistol class? How many of them will even learn the four rules? How many of them will practice shooting on a regular basis? And how many of them will learn the self-control necessary to relegate that gun to a last resort option, rather than a first resort solution?
If this trend of leftists arming themselves is real (and I have my doubts), we may see an uptick in negligent discharges and brandishing incidents. Time will tell.
That linked article in The Nation is quite amusing. It starts off with, “The sun is dipping low in the evening sky over the Republican Party…” What a difference seven years makes, eh? Of course, it doesn’t even take that long. Less than a month ago, the mainstream media was choked with speculations on how the Republican party would soon be rendered an impotent, powerless relic.
I said this the other day and I’ll say it again: I don’t see this as a good thing.
I don’t care about the color of your skin, religious or sexual preferences at all. What bothers me about this is the irrational fear that is the motivating factor behind the purchases.
I’m not going to say these people can’t buy a gun or multiple guns. Clearly that is their right. However, it might not be the wisest decision. People who are motivated in this way are much more likely than your average person to freak out and do something really, really stupid and land themselves in serious legal hot water. (Which will, more than likely lead to more problems when the legal system is deemed “racist” or anti-queer for convicting some dumbfuck who opened fire for no real reason.)
I’ve been told saying such is “divisive” but I say “Fuck that noise, the truth is only divisive to those who deal in falsehoods or are functionally retarded snowflakes”. The simple fact is that buying such tools in this manner is highly suggestive of a person who is prone to emotional thought processes rather than logical decision making. As such they are predisposed to panic and panic fucking kills. In the case of a person apt to panic over perceived racism rather than a real attack on their safety (and likely not familiar/trained with their weapon), panic likely kills not the person panicking but some other poor sod who happens to be the object of their panic driven emoting and subsequent ballistic tomfuckery.
To those who call me a racist or whatever I say this: You would be no more comfortable with your crazy neighbor who thinks we’re all alien lizard people here to steal his soul and eat his family arming up than I am with these folks doing it. It’s the same thing: arming up based on completely irrational thinking. I’m guessing it won’t end well in some or perhaps many cases.
Like/Dislike the messengers all you want. The truth is that there are increased tensions with minorities and lgbtq communities. These tensions are both from anticipatory fear and from actual real incidents that have occurred since the election. Are the SPLC numbers right on? Unlikely since no one has every really cared so much nor have they ever tried to count so carefully. I think it’s irresponsible to poo-poo the real events because of the messenger or any exaggeration of the numbers. It’s about truth isn’t it?
Actual incidents are occurring and they are blatantly associated with the president-elect either through writing his name or spoken word. These types may very well be the minority Trump supporters but they’re real, they’re vocal, and they’re active. If I wasn’t an OFWG I’d be paying close attention and be a little concerned myself. This election has brought some bad sorts out of the woodwork and they’re not fading away anytime soon. In fact they’re right here talking about splitting heads on curbs. It’s only going to get dicier.
Thanks for speaking rationally and not coming from some crazy extreme angle. You would think some people don’t believe that the far right has a distorted media machine of their own.
I’m not saying you’re wrong but I’d like some sources to back up your claims about real incidents.
Every single case I’ve seen (I don’t really go looking for them though) has been proven via investigation to be a hoax and a bunch of the hoaxers have now been charged with crimes for perpetrating said hoax.
I can list a couple dozen “hate crimes by Trump supporters” that have now been proven to be fabrications and none that have turned out to be real. However, as I said, I don’t actively research this sort of thing.
OTOH, even if there are some real incidents I pretty much give no fucks. The LBGTQ community generally dismissed the idea of arming up after Orlando (Pink Pistols being a notable exception) but now it’s a big deal to get a gun because Trump? Give me a break. This is tomfuckery at it’s finest and I have no patience for this sort of stupidity.
I’ve run into some people (one, on this very site) who seemed emboldened to spout their neo-Nazi viewpoints. The 2A community seems very good at addressing these rare occurences swiftly and forcefully. We must. Trump talks like an authoritarian; it is up to us to continue the battle against .gov overreach and tyranny.
But I reject any “data” from SPLC categorically.
Their perceived threat is as valid as your perceived threat, no? Or Is it the right to bare arms but only if strych9 says it’s ok?
Wow. Just fucking wow.
You win the dumbass of TTAG for the day award plus the award for reading at a kindergarten level and a bonus prize for making shit up.
I never said they couldn’t have one. I never even suggested they can’t have one. I merely point out that their fear is irrational and that most of the allegations against Trump supporters have been false. In no way does that equate to “they can’t have a gun”.
“Their perceived threat is as valid as your perceived threat, no?”
To answer your question in a single word: “No.”.
To elaborate: When people invent bullshit threats in their head and then take actions related to their fantasies we call that “paranoia”.
Paranoia. Noun. “a mental condition characterized by delusions of persecution, unwarranted jealousy, or exaggerated self-importance, typically elaborated into an organized system. It may be an aspect of chronic personality disorder, of drug abuse, or of a serious condition such as schizophrenia in which the person loses touch with reality.”
[snip] looking to buy a firearm for the first time “to protect themselves from ‘race riots and being attacked by racists. [snip]
Late to the party, but they’re more than welcome to come in. Self defense is a moral right.
“The evidence of post-election “racial tensions” Popken adduces are vaporous. Popken breathlessly cites reports of harassment from LGBT people coming into the Southern Poverty Law Center, without mentioning that organization’s checkered past (e.g., this SPLC take-down published by The Nation, a left-wing journal that isn’t exactly on the Koch Brothers’ Xmas list). Nor does Popken relay the types of allegations made.”
thing is, they can be vaporous and still be the reason black/LGBT buyers are buying firearms.
I read the original article that quoted Mz. Scott a couple of days ago and I’m still trying to figure out how she carried a crowbar in her purse. Out here in Red America crowbars are two or three feet long and weigh a couple of pounds – unless she has one of those ultra concealable Stanley Snubby Wonderbars . She’s better off with a Ruger LCR and she won’t have to carry a three foot long purse.
Well come on in, our black and gay brothers and sisters. We’ve been waiting for you. Plenty of room in the tent for all of us. This is an all-inclusive community as you will see. Please take the time to learn your firearm, the required safety, responsibilities and local laws as such, and join our peaceful, freedom-loving club. You will quickly find that the media has lied to you and there will be no race riots or increase racially/hate-charged attacks on minorities because Trump was elected. In fact, it will most likely be the opposite. Remember, it was only over the last 8 years – under Obama’s leftist totalitarian reign – that race relations slipped backwards what feels like 50 years. We are freedom loving people, and by definition, that includes you. So welcome to the club!
I must be missing all those reports of violent white supremacists mobs burning down Charlotte, Dallas, Philly, LA, etc…
Last night, I accompanied my wife to a CC permit class. Two rows in front of us were three young men – I’m guessing mid-20s. During a break, we all got to talking. They shared that they were gay and have felt some urgency to protect themselves. Even cited the NBC article. My wife perked right up, sharing that she was straight and felt some urgency to protect herself. Laughs all around, but we all acknowledged the need for self protection – regardless of race, sexual preference or politics. And we all agreed that it’s good to see a wider range of people accepting the responsibilities and privileges of their 2nd Amendment rights.
Is this the perspective NBC was hoping to instill in viewers? Not likely. But sometimes good things come about in spite of the intent of others. The more members of the political left that carry, the more acceptance we’ll see for gun rights. Seems like a good thing to me.