Countering Gun Rights Haters on the Street and in the Press

This video of me blasting universal background checks is what readers first see when they land on the Delaware County Daily Times article “Gun rights activists, gun control advocates face off over background checks” about the Saturday, June 28, 2014 competing rallies. Gun rights haters can't be happy about that.

Before the rallies the Delaware County Daily Times published “Demonstrations slated to address gun rights, control” which is fairly even in its coverage. Gun rights haters started with a walk from Chester, PA to their rallying point in Media, PA. We held an Open Carry Counter Rally For Gun Rights at an intersection near their rally.

The best shot the Delaware County Daily Times could take at gun rights was this editorial, “Statistics vary, but gun violence doesn't” that is so lame as to be laughable. Just repeating the same tired old clichés and appeals to emotion it was easily debunked in the comments section.

We also got coverage from the local NBC affiliate channel 10 in Philadelphia. That short report isn't online but did accurately state both sides views.

Also not online was my interview a few days before the rally with local, conservative radio talk show host Dom Giordano. While Dom is staunchly pro-gun rights he wasn't favorable to open carrying at the rally. Fortunately, most of the callers were. It was a nice, friendly, and supportive interview.

The only real media hit piece about our rally was from the Chester Spirit, a small,

left leaning, and very anti-gun rights publication based in Chester, PA. Chester is a poor, crime ridden town that has lost half of its population since its peak in 1950. The article “Gun fight: Delco residents face off over gun rights and access” tells a strange lie. “Both groups came face-to-face at the intersection of Route 252 and Baltimore Pike and the interaction remained peaceful, despite both sides being passionate about their stances.” No, we deliberately moved across the street from the marchers path before they were even in sight. We remained silent as they passed. There were no threats or insults from us and the police at no time intervened except to block traffic so the march could pass unimpeded through the intersection.

Enewsletters from the gun rights hating groups were rather amusing. One claimed that “...we were met first by a contingent of 75 or so pro-gun extremists, some openly carrying handguns or assault weapons, kept at bay by police.” [emphasis added]. A blatant lie about people who were complimented by the police with the words “good job” for getting out of the way without being asked to do so. What the gun rights haters don't get is that we support and protect everyone's right to express their views. Even people like them who want to trample gun rights and routinely insult us for trying to reach out to them. Here is video proof that we got out of their way and didn't insult them:

 
Of course, the organizers of the gun rights hating walk & rally had to lie and falsely claim credit for things remaining civil:

Our walkers displayed courage and strong spirit when passing by 75-100 armed counter-demonstrators gathered at Baltimore Pike and Rt. 252. Singing the civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome,” our contingent avoided confrontation with opponents and remained focused on the purpose of the walk.

Let's translate that into reality. The marchers are said to be showing “...courage and strong spirit ...” at the point in their march that they were safest. The open carriers would have protected the marchers had someone tried to attack them. “...our contingent avoided confrontation with opponents and remained focused on the purpose of the walk.” This really means their leadership once again succeeded in keeping their flock from talking to us and risking learning the truth about guns and gun rights. At their rally point at the Providence Friends Meeting House they guarded the entrances to keep us off the property.


 On another note, the same email as above stated:

Staff members from the offices of U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R) and U.S. Congressmen Robert Brady (D) and Patrick Meehan (R) read statements of support for legislation that would establish universal background checks on gun sales.

Republicans for gun control, go figure.

To wrap up, the counter rally was a great success for a number of reasons. Most importantly it got our message out in the media. What negative press we got was more than compensated for by the even and accurate coverage that was more prominent.

Another success was that we once again proved that guns don't cause crime. There were more guns than ever in Media the day of the rally and it still hasn't seen a murder since 2005. The gun rights haters were once again proved wrong.

Lastly, we did have a chance to talk to a few people from the other side. Hopefully, these conversations will be the beginning of them understanding the harm gun control causes and why we need guns in the peoples' hands.

Some of the signs carried by gun rights supporters: