Amid controversy, Gun Appreciation Day set for Jan. 19
A conservative coalition rallies support as clouds gather.
So reads the flyer from a conservative coalition calling for the first national Gun Appreciation Day. Activists are urged to demonstrate their support for gun ownership next Saturday by “turning out en masse at gun stores, ranges, and shows from coast to coast.”
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In the online banner for GAD, a handgun stands in for the “r” in Appreciation, just like the logo for the mafioso series The Sopranos (Bing: See the logo).
Early commenters on the GAD site have said that the demonstrations would be better held at state capitals and in D.C. than in gun shops and ranges, where pro-gun advocates would be preaching to the choir. But the coalition is hoping to induce the same kind of turnout and media coverage as there was for Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.
The protest is timed to coincide with Obama’s inauguration the following day, which is understandable, politically, but still unsettling. Gun Appreciation Day is also scheduled within 48 hours of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
But the coalition, sponsored by more than 50 organizations (including the Committee to Draft Judge Andrew Napolitano, Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, and Women Warriors PAC), is pressed to gather support while forces are rallying against their causes.
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In a second day of meetings to prevent gun violence, Vice President Joe Biden meets today with the NRA and other groups. Biden told reporters, “I want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion that unless we can do everything, we are going to do nothing.”
In a speech yesterday exclaiming that his state should lead the nation in curbing gun violence, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo roared that we must “End the madness now!”
To provide added backdrop that conservatives don’t need right now, a judge is deciding whether James Holmes is fit to stand trial for the shootings in Aurora, Colo. The best news gun advocates have had lately is that an Atlanta mom shot an intruder five times in the face.
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Photo: Rich Legg/Getty Images
Did anyone see the article on Foxnews.com about the ex-con who said he wishes the New York Times would have printed all the people with gun registations when he was a thief. He said he would know who didn't have a gun and who to rob and not rob. Thank you liberal media......you truly are idiots.
It is troublesome that the media will only spotlight items that have ratings longevity--the school shooting on December 15 in Sandy Hook CT was terrible and the media has played for days and now it has spurred the debate on gun control.
Yet, a news worthy item from San Antonio Tx on December 17 occurred but didn't get much aside from "a shooting at theater occurred". In that episode a gunman was trying to shoot people in a theater just like in Aurora CO. Fortunately, he was neutralized by someone on scene who was armed--result no civilian deaths, no news coverage. Granted the person who neutralized the situation was an off duty LEO, it is telling that if there are no deaths for the media to "wring" it's collective hands in, it doesn't get airtime-anybody remember Don Henley's 1982 song "Dirty Laundry"? It was true then and it's true now.
To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, a government that can give you everything you want is a government that can take everything you have...
The timing for the event is appalling. What is wrong with all of you?
Gun owners have no heart, or common sense. Do you not think that what happened in Newtown and Aurora is still raw? Are you even capable of putting yourselves in their shoes??
Have you ever lost a child to gun violence? Have you ever attended a funeral for a child killed by gun violence? Do you have the nerve to look in the eyes of the parents of these children and say what you truly feel? How insensitive can you be? OMG!!!!!!
Guns are not healthy for children and other living things.
Shame on you.
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