The Weak; the Fearful; the Stupid

On March 28th of this year, an organization called Moms Demand Action held a rally in Indianapolis to call for common-sense gun regulation (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/28/armed-protesters-show-up-to-counter-indianapolis-gun-control-rally/). Predictably, there was a small contingent of counter-protesters, because, after all, this is Indiana. No news there.

However, what was noteworthy is that the counter protesters came to the rally packing heat. They made a point of being ostentatiously armed with assault rifles and hand guns. Not that they were overtly threatening (that probably would have gotten them a free night in the Marion County jail), but they were just there to parade around brandishing their weapons. Because, you know, moms were there.

It is hard to know what exactly these guys were thinking, since they were not videotaped saying anything especially coherent. It looked to this writer that it was simple and naked intimidation. There was noise about no one taking their guns away, but that is hard to reconcile with the fact that the moms, nor anyone else, were advocating firearms confiscation. The resulting optics were terrible—angry young armed white men up against unarmed and peaceful mothers. Unless you are a gun control advocate, in which case the optics were a gift from Heaven. Peace-loving moms (we all have one) being confronted by armed, braying and hooting nincompoops. The very left-wing definition of gun nuts. Way to play to stereotype, fellas.

Did they think they needed the guns as back-up to discuss the issue with a bunch of mothers? Let’s mark that down for weak.

Did they think they needed the guns because they thought the mothers would kick their asses or make them clean up their rooms? Let’s mark that down for fearful.

Did they think that the brandishing of their weapons would bolster the logical coherence of their argument or point of view? Let’s mark that down for stupid.

Let’s face it. This tactic is the refuge of the weak, fearful, and stupid. As in “I will win this political argument because…I have a gun and you don’t”. It is not too far removed from “I will have the cash in your wallet because…I have a gun and you don’t”. Guns are used to intimidate far more than they are used to kill.

There is something quite chilling and creepy about the close parallels this behavior has to spousal abuse. As in the wife-beater who decides that the opportune time to “clean” his gun is during an argument with his wife. For an overview of the research on the links between domestic violence and firearms, see http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-gun-policy-and-research/research/domestic_violence_and_guns.html.  Also, see http://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/userfiles/file/Children_and_Families/Guns.pdf

Fascinating, and sad, are the reactions of the gun zealots. Here are a few examples from http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=34834#comments:

FatCircles0311 Says:

Sorry that freedom scares you lady. Oh wait, no I’m not.

Seeing a bunch of women hyperventilating and asking for big papa government to save them is pretty hilarious.

Fen Says:

I’m thankful for people who think this has anything to do with hunting.

Its like they slapped an “I AM AN IDIOT” sign on there (sic) forehead.

Saves me time.

NHSparky Says:

What percentage of these mommy’s little snowflakes will end up as socially-deviant miscreants versus those who were raised in pro-2A homes? These are probably the same people who hate dodgeball (sic), want everyone to get trophies, and otherwise insulate their precious progeny from the harsh fucking realities of life until Junior is shoved out into the REAL world and gets eaten alive when it’s not as he was told it would be.

I’d be curious to see if there were any stats on that.

And what did these women do to warrant such disrespect and derision? They were exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech, peaceably assemble and seek redress of grievances. But mostly, they had the nerve to disagree with men packing heat.