Last week, we looked at the Brady Campaign's "Too Many Victims" candlelight vigils, and what those vigils say about the group's agenda. That column was one of many pieces by various gun rights advocacy bloggers that drew shrieks of outrage from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), in just about every forum they could get on, for "mocking" survivors, and the loved ones of the fallen, of atrocities like the one in Tucson one year before the vigils.
Except, of course, that is not what we were doing. To understand that, a bit of a review of recent history is probably in order. On December 19, the Brady Campaign made what they called a "major announcement," via Facebook and YouTube, about the vigils. Actually, we need to go back a few more days, to December 16, when they "announced the announcement" of their "groundbreaking project."
An email they sent on December 22 made even more exalted promises:
Imagine stopping a bullet before it kills a child.
Impossible? Not with your help! On January 8, concerned Americans in small towns and big cities will stand as one to remember the victims of gun violence and call for action to stop the senseless shootings.
After all this build up, what was their grand strategy for "stopping" the bullets?
Lighting candles.
We gun rights advocates had the temerity to suggest that burning paraffin might not be all that effective a violence prevention measure--thus making us "jerks" and "monsters."
Oddly enough, CSGV seems not at all upset about Abby Spengler, founder of "Protest Easy Guns" (a name she chose presumably because "Whine About Readily Exercised Constitutionally Guaranteed Fundamental Human Rights" is too awkward) saying much the same thing (emphasis added):
I decided that someone had to speak out and say this is unacceptable. We're not just going to light candles to mourn the victims.
Apparently, it's fine for "Protest Easy Guns" to make the observation that candles don't stop violence, but not for gun rights advocates to do so. Regardless, as should be obvious, the only thing we are "mocking" is the soulless, cynical exploitation of the deaths of innocent people to advance an agenda whose success would leave more people disarmed and defenseless in the face of implacable evil.
See also:
- I'm All Aquiver With Anticipation
- The Brady Campaign Edsel
- Candle in the Wind
- Brady troll stalking WarOnGuns blog a welcome holiday gift to share
- The Reality of #toomanyvictims
- Brady Campaign's 'too many victims' exposes true agenda
- PEG's Spengler can disparage candles as violence fighting measure, but we're 'jerks'
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