Moms Demand Action – LonelyMachines

We Just Can’t Have Nice Things

Last year, Starbucks asked customers to stop carrying guns in their locations because people walked in with rifles slung over their shoulders. Last week, Jack in the Box asked customers to stop carrying guns in their locations because people walked in with rifles slung over their shoulders. This week, Chipotle asked customers to stop carrying guns in their locations because people walked in with rifles slung over their shoulders.

Are we seeing a pattern here, folks? Are we really that obtuse? This isn’t civil activism; this is a malicious sort of attention whoring that hurts the very cause these dinks claim to support.

And they have the audacity to pretend they don’t even get it. This isn’t happening because of some culture war. It’s happening because people can’t show simple discretion and manners. They get a picture to show to their friends on social media, and the anti-gun groups get to chalk up a very public victory.

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Civil Rights

Backlash

Everytown for Gun Safety is less than two weeks old, and it’s already falling apart. Tom Ridge has announced his resignation, and he was supposed to be their star recruit.

I looked forward to a thoughtful and provocative discussion about the toll gun violence takes on Americans. After consultation with Everytown, I have decided that I am uncomfortable with their expected electoral work.

That’s nothing new. He’s not the first politician to be misled by Michael Bloomberg’s recruitment speeches, nor the first to walk away in disgust.

Meanwhile, Everytown associate Shannon Watts has nothing better to do than harass the Lamar billboard company because Todd Kauranen of Slide Fire staged a silly picture with her. Since Slide Fire doesn’t show remorse, she’s going after a company that rented them billboard space in the past.

Also, since the picture didn’t portray her in a positive light, it constitutes violence towards women.

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Civil Rights

This Affects Us All

Michael Dunn has been convicted on three counts of attempted second-degree murder. The conviction follows an altercation in which he fired into a car following an argument over loud music with the occupants. While the trial didn’t generate the same media coverage as the Zimmerman case, it’s still national news. It’s also still a problem for us.

There are three parallels to the Zimmerman case. The first is race. We don’t know that it was a factor in Dunn’s decision to open fire, but it’s going to come up anyway.

The second is the media focus on Florida’s “stand your ground” law, despite the fact that it’s not relevant. Neither Dunn or Zimmerman ever requested a pretrial hearing in accordance with the law. Both men allowed their legal counsel to run the case in front of a jury. Nonetheless, there’s a groundswell of activism to repeal those laws, and Shannon Watts (now funded by Michael Bloomberg) is taking point on the initiative.

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Civil Rights

Another Million Moms

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In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, Shannon Watts has started a group called One Million Moms for Gun Control. Despite the similarity in names, they’re not affiliated with the 2000-member Million Mom March.

Watts wants to portray her group as the gun-control equivalent of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. If that were true, I’d be sending them a check myself.

MADD was instrumental in cutting drunk-driving deaths by a third. They had the right idea, and they got measurable results. Though the mission changed in later years, MADD succeeded at first through a singular purity of purpose: they sought to reduce carnage by punishing the behavior responsible. They didn’t seek to lower speed limits, tax alcohol, or restrict ownership of cars.

Their agenda worked. The standard for impairment was reduced, the penalties were increased, and the laws were enforced. Responsible drivers felt no adverse effect from the group’s efforts.

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