Last time, I mentioned here that it would be interesting to interview members of the extended family of cop-killer Maurice Clemmons, just to see what makes them tick; why they would risk their future freedom to help hide the killer and lie to the police.
That brings up a question many in the gun rights community have never dared to ask: What makes a gun rights activist tick? What is it that drives a growing segment of American firearms owners to become more than shooters and hunters; to become “defenders of the faith” as they are often portrayed by gun prohibitionists.
Perhaps the best way to do that is visit some of the Internet gun rights forums, and there are dozens of them, related to topics broad and narrow. Several forums deal specifically with the AR-15, which aficionados self-deprecatingly call “EBRs” (for “Evil Black Rifle”). A couple are specifically oriented toward the Model 1911 pistol, perhaps the finest combat handgun ever designed.
But a handful of these forums are geared toward gun rights, and these are places that bring out the very best, and sometimes the worst – albeit not long because abusers are routinely suspended or simply banned for their bad behavior – from Second Amendment defenders. There are purists, absolutists, moderates, liberals; such forums are, perhaps, representative of a true cross section of the firearms community. Spend enough time on one of these forums (I am guilty as charged; it’s part of the job, actually) and you will see that gun owners are hardly a lockstep group.
Internet thugs – those people who insist on “my way or the highway” adherence to their viewpoint – do not last long in these forums. There is productive, entertaining, often rib-splitting hilarious and typically thoughtful give and take among the “regulars.”
From it all, gun owners can learn about why so many Americans place so much value in the Second Amendment, and the entire Bill of Rights. Indeed, it is rare to find among the more active participants in these forums an individual who does not fully support the First Amendment, or the Fourth or the Fifth, and who does not understand the intent of the Ninth and Tenth amendments.
Here is a look at some of the recommended forums, and why:
KeepAndBearArms.com – This place has calmed down over the past several months by adding a couple of hoops through which people must jump in order to post, and that has discouraged some of the rowdies who used to anonymously post all kinds of invective. For a long while, it had been kind of a free-for-all haven for that sort of thing, and while the verbal jets have been cooled, the general visitor interest remains high. It is not a discussion forum in the true sense, but a hugely popular clearing house for gun rights news of all flavors, from self-defense shootings to government abuses. No subject is sacred, and it frequently provides good story leads.
Owned jointly by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), the KABA is a high-traffic site and even in its rowdy days certainly demonstrated its owner’s belief in free speech as much as gun ownership. Alan Gottlieb, who founded SAF and now chairs the CCRKBA, has occasionally been the target of deliberately nasty reader comments, yet he never tried to censor those remarks; Proof positive that he places a far higher priority on civil rights than his own comfort level.
TheHighRoad.us – An off-shoot of TheHighRoad.org, which is now the subject of a legal dispute, “The High Road” really tries to live up to its label. It is operated by Oleg Volk, a genuinely nice guy who gives a pretty good interview, and is a wizard with a camera. He is highly respected in the firearms community, and deservedly so. The High Road is a lively spot at times, where disagreement tries to be of the collegial nature, and viciousness is not tolerated. Topics are fairly wide open but must be firearm related. Discussions that veer into the “Twilight Zone” are pretty quickly locked down.
“THR” is a forum where gun activists discuss things intelligently, often intellectually and rarely is it boring. Be careful, because some of the “regulars” on this forum possess razor sharp wit and can be deadly accurate in their criticism.
(Note: TheHighRoad.org is still in operation, and it remains one of the more popular forums, with many of the same participants as Volk’s “Dot-US” site. )
GunVoter.org – Operated by the sons of gun rights legend Neal Knox, this is a relatively new forum that is still gathering momentum. It’s for the politically-oriented activist and one can find the latest from many Gun Rights Examiners. It gets especially active as election times draw near, and one can find critical information about candidates, gun control efforts and gun rights activism.
OpenCarry.org – Welcome to the world of handgunners who prefer to carry their hardware openly, and legally! Open carry is legal in a lot of surprising places, and these guys know the laws typically much better than local politicians and even the police. Owned and operated by two fellow Gun Rights Examiners, Mike Stollenwerk of Virginia and John Pierce of Minnesota, this is a pretty lively forum, with something for everyone from flakes to philosophers.
Be warned, you’ll find a cross section of people here, not everyone agrees with one another, and they can be pretty hard-headed about it at times. That can get blistering, so be willing to “return fire.”
Open carry is a subject, and a practice, that many people find offensive, but simply because something has become anachronistic does not make it wrong. If your senses are offended by the sight of an open-carried firearm, or even the thought that people prefer to pack sidearms on their hip, you’re not going to like this bunch.
TheGunner’sLair.com – Another of the more collegial, thought-provoking gun forums, with sections on football, cigars and other off-topic subjects; something for everyone, including discussions on wine and distilled spirits! Proof positive that gun owners don’t just think about firearms, black helicopters and blue helmets. This is like visiting a social club from the comfort of your own laptop.
GunDigestMagazine.com – Since I’m a columnist for Gun Digest the Magazine, I’m a member of this forum, and while it does not get a sizzling amount of traffic, it is a place for gun owners of all flavors. There’s a big Gun Rights & Politics section worth visiting.
If you have a computer and are Internet savvy, and gun politics gets your juices flowing, I suggest you check these forums to see what is there for you.
Comments
Why is there never a Digg It button on these?
Its just not there.
Click on "Share This" and you can submit it to Digg, Facebook, Reddit and bunches of others.
I have started a forum which is an alternative to these guns rights forums. It is a self defense forum. I believe lethal self defense has a time and place but there are alternatives.
Have a look for yourself at:
proselfdefenseproducts.com/self_defense_forum
If nothing else you will find interesting stories like the Grizzly man, The Oklahoma 911 call where a woman killed a man in self defense and others.
I recommend the Gun forum at the DemocraticUnderground.com . yes, there are lots of us liberal Dem. gun owners out there.
What makes the clemmons group tick is that they are minorities. No matter where they go besides dey getto, they are noticed, spotted, for being minorities.Every time they see a white person they are reminded that they are a minority.These are the reasons they HATE White people,and do the things they do. This seems to apply to just about all minorities except light skinned orientals,is most prevalent in blacks and hispanics.
What? No mention of www.gun-politics.org?
To Reality:
If the Clemmons clan moved to any country south of Algeria, they'd be minorities no more, just another bunch of faces in the crowd.
For clarity, allow me to say that I do not personally "open carry" -- my state doesn't allow it in any case.
But every single argument made against open carry is precisely found as one of the arguments used by the Brady Bunch and other gun control organizations to oppose concealed carry or even owning a firearm.
And, they are given with almost exactly the same amount of evidence, i.e., none.
You can choose open carry or reject it for yourself (if you local laws allow) but when you attack it you are using the arguments of the gun control gang -- without exceptions and without evidence.
And in Wisconsin it is pretty much your only choice since they have open carry but no provision for concealed carry.
Another good column D. Workman.
Not so long ago I’d go first to the comment section at KeepAndBearArms. Times were the comments were far better to read than the articles. After they required a log in, like one poster said something like where the place was once full of life, all you hear is crickets chirping.
The few who still post comments are worth reading, but it’s like a ghost town compared to how it used to be. Kinda sad that it turned into just a link page but that must be what they wanted. Please keep the Examiner log in free.
Oh, and for those who don’t post comments at the Examiner, why not let us know what you think?
communication on the Internet and off it is critical if Americans are to regain their rights to self defense and the right to bear arms in a reasonable manner as defined by the public and not politicians. If people become afraid to speak out whether their viewpoint is popular or not then we lose every other right including our second amendment. Encourage these Internet conversation to expand into the real world and local communities. Take back your rights and your neighborhoods. We will only gain the majority and supporters by going out among others and converting them with common sense and logical discussions.
Dave, Thank you for the links you provided. Constitutional law is almost an avocation to me beginning in grad school at University of Florida in 1953 when I was a mere 25-year-old waif. Lately, the Second Amendment has come to the fore of my consciousness; I own a few guns, but haven't even fired several of them. The sites you told us about will add to my reading/talking material in these waning days.
To "Reality," who posted yesterday at 3:25 p.m., it's difficult to determine whether you propose morphing Clemmons and his ethnomates to a lighter shade so he/they will no longer be forced to kill light-skinned folks or adopting a corrective policy to the nation's ills as we might have learned from a regime in the 1930s and 1940s that dealt most definitively with Gypsies, Jews, and homosexuals.
Yours, in blue-eyed blond-haired solidarity,
Flavet
I usually arrive at the Examiner site by clicking a link while perusing Keepandbeararms.com.
Unless I'm mistaken, I believe Angel Shamaya started KABA.com. After Mr. Gottlieb took over, one had to sign-up as a member in order to post comments?
Is Angel still actively involved in the Gun Rights battles?
Great article sir, sad times in this country when ignorance is paraded and accepted over (even) semi-intelligence.
Mr. Workman,
If you have not done so, I strongly encourage you to visit www.defensivecarry.com. I have found this forum to be among, if not, the best of internet firearms communities available today. The site is rich in educational opportunities for newcomers and veterans alike. The tenor is polite but edgy, and directly to the point when misbehavior is detected. Members are not afraid to call out poor performance regarding weapons handling and real world self defense events. Give it a try!
I'm one of the mods on www*DOT*gunsnet*DOT*net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15
We're also AK-47.net, but also have forums for ARs, C&R and gun control / legal issues.
The web site is in flux right now, but has tens of thousands of regular users.
Don't forget www.gun-politics.org, please. It's operated by the same guy who operates m1911.org, and it's pretty good.
Also check out www.gunrightsradio.com
They have a great friendly forum, along with links to self defense, firearms, and gun rights related podcasts.
As usual, an excellent read, Mr. Workman. My only quibble: Open Carry is hardly "anachronistic". Please keep up the good work, Thanks!
Mr. Workman is correct. The open carry of sidearms is unequivocally an anachronism. That is, out if place in time.
Open carry has never been normal, not even in the old west, and it's certainly not the norm today. Carrying a cellphone is considered "normal". And trying to make something appear "normal" may very well result in unintended consequences.
In my state, one must pay for the privilege to CC; along with fingerprinting, background check, classroom and range time. Sorry kids, but that is not a right.
If one chooses to OC, then just strap it on and go. Then again, I live in a state where OC is normal.
Ok, anonymous, I have a question for you. How perverted is it to have to hide the exercise of a right? Perverted being the opposite of normal.
Just got back from dinner at a bar and grill, I was open carry. If people thought it was not normal, they certainly were not telling me verbally or non. Same with the Market, and the book store earlier today. I conceal also, when I deem it necesarry, However when I am CC I never get the opportunity to educate the people that have fallen victim to the propaganda machine. I have been approached, asked questions, and have had 99.7% positive encounters out of thousands of outings, I say start slow and it will become addicting, Oh yeah the other thing is you better like talking about your firearm.
Anonymous says: "Open carry has never been normal, not even in the old west, and it's certainly not the norm today."
Nonsense.
Granting that I'm something of an old f***, open carry was common enough that nobody thought anything of it around here up through my teenage years. I never ran into anyone who had a problem with it until I returned from service in the Air Force (Vietnam era).
In other matters:
Allow me to plug INGunOwners.com, my personal favorite.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!