Gays With Guns

[derby378]

At first glance, David Nelson may seem like an unusual candidate for president of the world's largest gay gun organization. A familiar face on Capitol Hill from his days as a lobbyist, Nelson is a fairly recent Second Amendment supporter; as he tells it, the events of 9/11 converted him.

"I began thinking especially with stories coming out about Mark Bingham and the other gay and lesbian people who were on board the various flights, what would I have done?" said Nelson "What would I have wanted to do? I immediately came to the conclusion that, given my temperament, I would be one of the first people to run to the cockpit and fight back. I would hope to be armed doing that, whether it was with a plastic airline knife or with a firearm."

A member of the Democratic Party for 26 years -- a party better known for gun control than gun loving -- Nelson said he started researching the Democrats' history with the Second Amendment, the controversial constitutional amendment that gives each American citizen the right to keep and bear firearms. He said he was surprised to learn that historically Democrats had largely supported this amendment. Even today, he says the anti-gun stance of a few Democratic leaders does not reflect the opinions of the party at large.

"There aren't very many Democrats who are pro-gun who find it necessary to speak out," he said. "Well, that's changing. Myself included, there are a lot of us in Utah especially, but nationally as well, that are finally saying 'Look; we're not saying that it's an absolute, we're not saying there isn't room for more responsibility to be had on the part of gun owners, but we can't anymore let the anti-gun crowd speak for us, for our party and for what it means to be for or against the Second Amendment in the Democratic Party."

http://www.qsaltlake.com

On edit: This article is in the upcoming October 1 edition. Sorry about any confusion.

[billbuckhead]

1. A majority of Americans in general are for stronger regulations

A vast majority of Dems are for stronger gun regulations and a strong majority of Independents as well. The real problem is voting machines and voter suppression keep African American and urban votes from not counting. I bet if we concentrate on getting votes counted we would have more success than appeasing the gun lobby and their crowd.

If there are so many pro gun Dems, then why couldn't Howard Dean win a single primary outside Vermont?

[derby378]

2. If you scare the public enough, you can make them vote for anything

That's exactly what happened with the 34 Democrats in the House who voted for that abhorrent torture bill. Boehner basically dared them not to vote for it, and look how they caved in.

I challenge the notion that most Democrats are anti-gun. There are many Democrats who have very strong feelings against guns, and I respect that. But there's room at the table for my kind, too.

[billbuckhead]

5. Irony is the gun lobby has scared Americans into buying mo better guns

Most AMERICANS are for more gun regulations, even hunters and Republicans.

One of the most reliable crossover votes for Dems are suburban women voting for more gun regs. In Pennsylvania they call them "Rendellicans". Notice how strong pro gun regulation Republicans are polling nationally? Arnie, Bloomberg, Guiliani all could beat anyone of your pro gun Dems like a Harlem Globetrotters opponent. Even McCain is hooked up with the hated Americans for Gun Safety. In a more and more urbanized America, Republicans are running away from the unlimited rights for guns crowd as fast as they can.

[benEzra]

6. You wish...

why don't you go and join the repubs, then? Sarah Brady IS a Reagan Republican...you'd be in good company.

If you take a look at the pro-gun vs. anti-gun breakdown of Congress since 1994, you'll see that a HUGE shift has occurred toward the pro-gun side. The pro-gun shift is much larger than the party breakdown shift since '94, as quite a few anti-gun Dems have been replaced by pro-gun Dems. The fact is, both parties have been running away from the ban-more-guns lobby, and with good reason.

If the ban-more-guns lobby were so damn powerful, and most voters REALLY felt the way you do, then the shift would have been the other way, now, wouldn't it? And it's just as pronounced at the state level. The backlash against your precious Protruding Handgrip Ban led to the passage of CCW laws in, what, 30 states?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If you want MY vote, keep your sticky fingers out of my gun safe. I respect your choices; please respect mine. Thanks.

[billbuckhead]

8. Another school shooting today, it's now part of our culture

I blame "The High Road" and other gun culture sites that tell men their best way to express their masculinity is to hide behind a gun.

It will be damning to see if RBKA-NRA voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland vote for these black Republicans like Swann, Blackwell and Steele . I bet not.

[msongs]

3. gay in utah? that explains it. nt

[swimmernsecretsea]

4. There's a gay gun enthusiasts organization here in San Francisco

I'd never been. I understand they did get some complaints about it being a group for shooting and gun hobby. I'm not into them myself, but I live close to a shooting range where they've practiced before. Here's a link:

http://www.sf.pinkpistols.org/

[transeo]

7. I've got it - an angry drag queen army!

Then let's see how much the repubs continue to f*** with us. ;-)

[and-justice-for-all]

9. Yeah, we have like 5 Guns in our house...

...and my husband is a Cop.