LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Some of those seated in the pews of New Bethel Church here Saturday night, their firearms tucked to their sides, saw themselves as modern-day pioneers.
“This country started by people gathering together in churches and complaining about taxation and about their current government, King George III, taking armaments that they had,” said Chesley Kemp, 61, a family doctor with his Kimber .45 Auto at his side.
Tell me this story doesn't have all the elements needed for a scare piece to frightened the pants off the blue-state nanny worshippers?
Guns? Check.
Religion? Check.
Southern state? Check.
I mean, hell, the only way this could get better would be if they left the church to go protest stem cell research...
I'm conflicted, here. On the one hand, I heartily endorse the sentiments espoused with this plan - we the people have, for far too long, had our rights summarily yanked out from under us, and it's about damned time we stood up and said "ENOUGH". We, the law-abiding gun owning community, are not the problem. We commit crimes in numbers far below the general population, yet we are the first group to be suspected of any and all crimes under the sun. We're barred from bars, schools, and places of worship; and in this one case, someone has stood up for us.
This is exactly the kind of thing we should emulate and support.
However... Denying that this sort of event doesn't hand a PR coup on a silver platter to the anti-gun forces is counter-productive. As we've seen over and over again when it comes to the gun control issue, actual honest-to-goodness FACTS don't matter - it's the raw emotions and feelings that result in us losing rights. Handing the forces of evil (Bradys, HCI, etc.) a church-based gun-lovin' support group in Kentucky is a
This is the kind of thing they serve on a platter to scare the ever-lovin' snot out of those who support gun control. This is the equivalent of a long-haired hippie smoking pot and burning the American flag to the right. It's the proverbial red flag that's going to open the wallets, pocketbooks, and murses of the elite to rake in donations to the anti-gun groups. I'm not saying that we shouldn't hold these types of events out of fear of how they look; I'd just rather see something like the Chicago Appleseed event given 1/10th as much attention...
That is all.
Link sent by reader, good friend, and all-round good egg brad_in_ma. Thanks Brad!
6 comments:
Because the pro-rights side will be demonized in print and in anti-rights propaganda NO MATTER WHAT WE DO, may I suggest that we go ahead and do what we know is right and let the chips fall where they may?
"Not scaring the white folks" is OK up to the point where they claim to be scared by any and all normal behavior. Then they should be ridiculed, with great glee.
MArooned,
That's like saying your blog scares people, so you should tone it down.
You'd tell me to step the f' off.
As you said, facts don't matter, it's all raw emotions and feelings. Besides that, if the whole Bill of Rights was removed from the Constitution, it wouldn't mean we lost those rights, it would mean the government has lost the moral authority to govern. The rights remain, they are natural or God-given, depending on your beliefs. They cannot be taken away.
Take Your Gun To Church Day is a stupid stunt because it freaks out even those who DON'T agree with the Brady Bunch.
Would Jesus Wear a Gun to the Temple?
That's the question people will be asking. And no, not just the Brady Bunch, perfectly normal folks who either don't care one way or the other or people who support our human right of self defense but think it's in incredibly bad taste to demonstrate for it by bringing your gun to church.
All this shit does is preach to the choir in a way that appeals only to a shrinking demographic.
We need genuine outreach, not silly stunts.
Like I said, I can see both sides.
There's a perfectly valid point in the mindset that "they're going to hate us no matter what we do, we might as well do what we think is right".
No matter WHAT we gunnies do, someone's going to take it the wrong way, blow it way the hell out of proportion, and use their exaggerated caricature to frightened the sheep.
So why not go for broke?
Of course, I've had moderately good luck with bringing folks quietly to the range and letting them experience the *real* gun culture, the fun and relaxation that can be had in a fun day shooting.
It's not as flashy or attention getting as an open carry church sermon, but I've reached almost as many people with my "Take a Noob Shooting" method; and breaking clays on the 25 yard berm with the Remington Fieldmaster invariably leads to an ear-to-ear grin and a day they'll remember...
I'm conflicted too. The pastor encouraged people to bring UNLOADED guns.
What good is an unloaded pistol? Sort of rendered the whole thing pointless (at least to me).
Now, north of the Ohio River people carried loaded guns to church, but no one wrote an article about it.
Shootin' Buddy
Hey, thanks for the Chicago Appleseed mention!
We got great traffic from Tam, but more is good...
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