Mr. Freeze
01-04-2014, 11:41 AM
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/liberal-gun-club-emerges
Liberals and Lefties Who like Guns -- But Not the NRA -- Emerge in San Francisco
Transsexuals, ex-priests and Democrats love guns, too.
I thought it was a joke, and a bad one, when a strident vegan musician friend from upscale Marin County, just north of San Francisco, said he was thinking of getting a rifle because his neighbor had a nasty pit bull that kept threatening his smaller dog.
Turns out the joke’s on me—my friend is not alone. According to Carla Marinucci, the top political writer at the San Francisco Chronicle, there’s a new faction in America’s gun culture: liberal lefties (http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Liberals-find-comfort-level-in-NPR-of-gun-clubs-5107330.php) who love their guns but hate the National Rifle Association. And they have members in the Bay Area, a region with a long (http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/01/10/us-usa-guns-sanfrancisco-idUSN0962828620080110) history (http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/gun-violence-initiative-looks-to-tap-tech-innovation-in-san-francisco/Content?oid=2320867) of gun control efforts.
“We’re the NPR of gun clubs—without the tote bags,” Walter Stockwell (http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=bayarea&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Walter+Stockwell%22) of San Jose told the paper, saying he joined the Liberal Gun Club (http://www.theliberalgunclub.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22822) to improve his shot and spend time with people who share his views. This allegedly more genteel, intellectual and liberal gun club has about 1,000 members nationally, compared to the NRA’s 5 million (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/04/nra-meeting-lapierre-membership/2135063/).
“Marlene Hoeber is feisty, tattooed, transgender, a self-described feminist, a queer activist—and a crack shot with her favorite ‘toys,’ guns of just about every kind,” the piece began, profiling the club's California state president. The stereotype-shattering story was promptly reposted (http://www.gopusa.com/news/2014/01/02/lets-take-a-peek-into-leftwing-gun-culture/?subscriber=1) on GOPUSA.com, teasing “a peek into leftwing gun culture.”
The liberal shooters say their only similarity to the NRA is a wide interpretation of the Second Amendment—opposing new gun control laws. They called (http://www.theliberalgunclub.com/2013/10/15/lgc-nocal-responds-to-governor-brown/) several new laws passed in 2013 by the California Legislature but vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown “overprescribed political placebos that fail to cure... the root causes of violence.” That is best addressed by government support “for violence prevention: stronger mental healthcare, addressing poverty, homelessness and unemployment,” their press release said (http://www.theliberalgunclub.com/2013/10/15/lgc-nocal-responds-to-governor-brown/).
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
It is my beliefs in liberty and freedom that often get me accused of being a "righty" when I am pretty much 100% aligned with what used to be considered liberalism. I am hoping that more and more groups like this help to promote the idea that we shouldn't be defined by the standards of centrists but by our own beliefs and alignments.
Liberals and Lefties Who like Guns -- But Not the NRA -- Emerge in San Francisco
Transsexuals, ex-priests and Democrats love guns, too.
I thought it was a joke, and a bad one, when a strident vegan musician friend from upscale Marin County, just north of San Francisco, said he was thinking of getting a rifle because his neighbor had a nasty pit bull that kept threatening his smaller dog.
Turns out the joke’s on me—my friend is not alone. According to Carla Marinucci, the top political writer at the San Francisco Chronicle, there’s a new faction in America’s gun culture: liberal lefties (http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Liberals-find-comfort-level-in-NPR-of-gun-clubs-5107330.php) who love their guns but hate the National Rifle Association. And they have members in the Bay Area, a region with a long (http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/01/10/us-usa-guns-sanfrancisco-idUSN0962828620080110) history (http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/gun-violence-initiative-looks-to-tap-tech-innovation-in-san-francisco/Content?oid=2320867) of gun control efforts.
“We’re the NPR of gun clubs—without the tote bags,” Walter Stockwell (http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=bayarea&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Walter+Stockwell%22) of San Jose told the paper, saying he joined the Liberal Gun Club (http://www.theliberalgunclub.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22822) to improve his shot and spend time with people who share his views. This allegedly more genteel, intellectual and liberal gun club has about 1,000 members nationally, compared to the NRA’s 5 million (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/04/nra-meeting-lapierre-membership/2135063/).
“Marlene Hoeber is feisty, tattooed, transgender, a self-described feminist, a queer activist—and a crack shot with her favorite ‘toys,’ guns of just about every kind,” the piece began, profiling the club's California state president. The stereotype-shattering story was promptly reposted (http://www.gopusa.com/news/2014/01/02/lets-take-a-peek-into-leftwing-gun-culture/?subscriber=1) on GOPUSA.com, teasing “a peek into leftwing gun culture.”
The liberal shooters say their only similarity to the NRA is a wide interpretation of the Second Amendment—opposing new gun control laws. They called (http://www.theliberalgunclub.com/2013/10/15/lgc-nocal-responds-to-governor-brown/) several new laws passed in 2013 by the California Legislature but vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown “overprescribed political placebos that fail to cure... the root causes of violence.” That is best addressed by government support “for violence prevention: stronger mental healthcare, addressing poverty, homelessness and unemployment,” their press release said (http://www.theliberalgunclub.com/2013/10/15/lgc-nocal-responds-to-governor-brown/).
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
It is my beliefs in liberty and freedom that often get me accused of being a "righty" when I am pretty much 100% aligned with what used to be considered liberalism. I am hoping that more and more groups like this help to promote the idea that we shouldn't be defined by the standards of centrists but by our own beliefs and alignments.