by Robert Lyman

February 11, 2002

KeepAndBearArms.com -- Here are the first of what I hope will be few (but know will be many) gratuitous and unnecessary attacks on gun owners to appear off the presses of America's newspapers and magazines. Some of these selections appeared on KABA's newslinks pages. Unfortunately, others which are just as good did not get recorded in time and have disappeared from websites and servers before being recorded.

Please keep sending me material that shows bigotry against gun owners! If your submission does not appear here, do not assume that I am not interested--I simply have chosen to include the only the very worst offenders for the sake of time. Some of these items are old, others are new, so send me whatever you find!

From the pages of Salon.com's "Mothers who think" section, a completely unthinking editorial by Sally Tisdale calling for a ban on all guns except those used for subsistence hunting:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tisd/1999/05/06/elimination

"The phrase "gun nut" is not a joke. No one needs these weapons for anything. People just want them, and they want them with such angry lust that I had to face down a little fear to write this column. I am afraid of guns; I am afraid of people who like guns, own guns for the sake of owning them and shoot them for the feeling of shooting."

No, Ms. Tisdale, "gun nuts" is not a joke. It is an insult. And if I may say so, the author's fear of gun owners is the result of willful ignorance-she doesn't know any better because she doesn't WANT to know any better. We all need someone to hate, after all.

Molly Ivins, from the Texas Observer, 9/3/99 (old, but worth a read):

http://texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=282

"…if you think I am exaggerating or insulting these people by calling them gun nuts, I recommend that you find some of their Web sites, look at their material, and see what you think they should be called."

You are insulting us, Molly. I suggest that you have a look at our websites and engage them in a constructive, intellectually honest fashion, rather than name calling.

Tampa Tribune, Sept. 15, 2001, Column by John Wark:

"The willy-nilly sale of guns to those who suffer from prejudice, ignorance and fear can pose as much a threat as bin Laden - especially when the paranoid gun buyer views his government and fellow Americans as the enemy."

Mr. Wark apparently believes that anyone going to a gun store after Sept. 11 was a bigot intending to shoot Arabs or Muslims in his or her community. Since I bought a new rifle the week after Sept. 11, I guess that includes me. Unfortunately, Mr. Wark's column is no longer available online.

"The NRA Is Not Just About Guns", a "my opinion" piece on page 96, Fall 2001 issue of Reform Judaism magazine, Vol. 30 No. 1.

This article is not available online, but Bob Glass informs me it paints the NRA as a bunch of "rednecks" eager to return us to Jim Crow days.

Guess the author knows a different NRA than I do.

Keep those references and citations coming: bigots@keepandbeararms.com! I know there's a lot out there, so let me know if you see it! A big thanks to everyone who has helped out!

Finally, I know that John Douglass of the Grand Rapids Press has written at least two very insulting columns which I did not record at the time. They are no longer available online. Can anyone give me the reference?

Related Reading

01/15/02 - New project: Documenting Anti-Gun Bigotry and Hysteria