Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Pink Pistols in Deutsche Welle

Last week I was contacted by Carla Bleiker, who introduced herself as a journalist for Deutsche Welle ("German Wave"), Germany's international broadcaster. 

She then said "I am writing a story about the situation regarding gun rights and gun control under President Joe Biden. I'd like to interview someone at Pink Pistols about this. Questions include:

  • What expectations do you have for President Biden in terms of gun rights and LGBTQ rights? 
  • In how far do you think he'll attempt to tighten gun control laws? How successful do you think such an attempt would be? 
  • In how far are you concerned about Second Amendment freedoms under President Biden?
  • What do you think about the current gun rights situation in the US? Is there anything you would like to change?"

The article has a neutral stance, which is good press for us as far as I'm concerned. However, like with all interviews, more was left on the cutting room floor than was included in the article. 

For those curious, here is my reply:

What expectations do you have for President Biden in terms of gun rights and LGBTQ rights? 
There are two ways to interpret this question; however, given that your later questions only dealt with firearms, I feel it safe to assume you meant the intersection of gun rights and LGBTQ rights and not “What are your expectations for President Biden regarding LGBTQ rights as well as gun rights?”

I have stated multiple times that firearms rights are queer rights, and that gun control makes it more difficult for queer people to defend themselves. My argument is thus:

· I have the right to live.
· There are people who wish to end my life because I am queer.
· Guns allow me to defend my queer life.
∴ Therefore, guns preserve queer lives.

· Guns cannot preserve queer lives if queer people cannot carry them.
· Gun rights means that all law-abiding citizens can carry guns for self-defense.
· By carrying a gun, I can defend my queer life.
∴ Therefore, gun rights are pro-queer.

· The right to self-defense -- gun rights -- are human rights.
· Loving whomever I want -- my sexuality -- is a human right.
· Living as I wish -- my gender identity -- is a human right.
∴ Therefore, gun rights are queer rights and both are human rights.
In how far do you think he'll attempt to tighten gun control laws? How successful do you think such an attempt would be? In how far are you concerned about Second Amendment freedoms under President Biden?

I honestly don't know how far he'll go. On one hand, both Biden and Harris have been very open about liking all these proposed legislations, and those opinions are largely shared by the Democrats in Congress, nor did the Republicans put up much of a fight when Trump spoke in favor of gun control.

But another talking point is that we are in the middle of the biggest gun rush in the history of this country. In March 2020, gun purchases began spiking at a rate of one million or more additional purchases each month, and that trend has continued unabated through January this year. It is statistically impossible for all of these new gun owners to be all old white straight Republican men.  Even Michael Bloomberg, who is quite literally the face of American Gun Control, realized this when his anti-gun organ The Trace published an article titled You Just Panic-Bought a Gun. Here’s How to Handle It Safely.
Bloomberg's position has always been abstinence-only when it comes to firearm education, and like an abstinence-only parent who discovers that his child is having premarital sex, his choices became “Ignore the situation and hope it goes away” and “Accept reality and seek advice from a professional.” As ignoring the situation almost always leads to unfortunate consequences like unplanned teenage pregnancies or negligent discharges which result in injury or death, Bloomberg decided to take the mature course of action and seek the advice of experts. For nearly two decades, he has told us that no one needs a gun; now, despite his best efforts, his anti-gun magazine is acknowledging the awkward truth that people want guns to protect themselves and their families in a crisis where the police may be late to arrive.
Therefore, given that a substantial part -- perhaps even a majority -- of Biden's base is now buying guns, and the guns being sold are the exact guns that Biden and Harris have spoken out on banning or restricting, the question must be asked "Just how willing will Democrats be to embrace gun control when they know that not only will it go against a portion of their base, but it may very well end up taking guns away from people who recently purchased these firearms, likely at a significant markup due to increased demand and reduced supply because of Covid-19, to protect their family?"
Please recall that the primary job of every politician is to ensure their re-election. Also, please consider my theory that gun owners are likely to become gun voters: Once you have bought a firearm (which are not cheap), you become resistant to laws that threaten to take it away from you, especially those laws which use the word "confiscation" (and the government would have to confiscate them; given the number of firearms in our country, paying anywhere near market value for them would bankrupt the government before our citizens ran out of guns to be "bought back"). Furthermore, once you know how to operate a firearm and know what it can and cannot do, much of the hysteria and word-salad arguments of gun prohibitionists are revealed for the nonsense that they are.
So in conclusion, on the one hand I think it would be very dangerous for Democrats' re-election chances to seriously push gun control right now (honestly, the economy and Covid-19 are bigger and more important problems right now). On the other hand, please understand that I said "right now"; I firmly believe that if somebody threatens you, it's in your best interest to believe them, and given the track records of all involved it's only a matter of time before gun control becomes a leading concern. I just don't think it will happen until after the pandemic has passed, our economy has recovered, and civil unrest in major cities has died down. 

What do you think about the current gun rights situation in the US? Is there anything you would like to change?
I'm afraid that this will have to be the subject of another email, as my response would be at least as long (if not longer) than what I have already written, and we are dangerously close to your deadline. 
For those curious about the last line: I received the email fairly late at night, with a request for a response by 10:30 am the following day; I emailed her that morning at 9:54 am. 

Overall, I think that the article is a balanced (if 1,000 foot) look at American Second Amendment politics for a foreign audience. 

Monday, February 22, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 141: Some Good News for the Second Amendment

                   

In This Episode
  • Erin and Weer'd have good news on the Second Amendment front!
    • We discuss Utah going Constitutional carry;
    • Second Amendment Sanctuaries and their legality;
    • Infighting within Bloomberg's shell group March for Our Lives;
    • And we cover a defensive shooting where a young boy protects his Grandmother from  a home invasion.
  • David brings us his take on the best woods for rifle stocks;
  • and the ACP House Dick talks a bit about the financial aspects of running a private investigation firm.




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Show Notes

Monday, February 15, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 140: The Text of Those Bills

                  

In This Episode
  • Erin is stuck in interstate traffic, so Weer'd recruits two men to do the job of one woman;
  • Weer'd, Oddball, and David review the text of several anti-gun bills and discuss their ramifications;
  • and Weer'd sits down with Lara Smith of the Liberal Gun Club to discuss how best to lobby your elected representatives to side with the Second Amendment.




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Show Notes

Main Topic:

Lara Smith:

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 139: Soon May the Tendieman Come

                 

In This Episode
  • Erin and Weer'd forgo a Main Topic for some amazing segments!
  • Xander talks about the merits of being excellent, and not judging new gun owners for the guns they have;
  • Speaking of cheap guns,  Oddball recently bought an Altor and he shares his thoughts on this minimalist pistol;
  • and finally, there's been a lot of talk about the short sale of Gamestop stocks. Oddball, Weer'd, and Matt were discussing it before an ACP Film Track, and the result was too good -- and too timely! -- for a Blooper Reel.




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Show Notes

Thursday, February 4, 2021

V5 Ghouls: Fatal Addiction

 Back in December I reviewed the V5 Companion, and when I talked about the section on ghouls as player characters I said that while I could understand why the writers didn't go into more depth, I might do so later.

It is now later, so please enjoy these expanded rules on ghouls (Google Document). Perhaps at some point I will combine these with the V5 rules and the V20 fluff into a single document, but right now I'm not willing to put in that much effort for such limited return. 

Please note that this is optimized for my Unknown Armies-style Stress Gauges for V5 system. If you aren't using that system then you'll need to find some way to measure addiction. 

Julius Jones, the ghoul of the vampire Maximillian in
  A Vampire in Broolyn

I really like how this turned out, because it presents an interesting dilemma for the players: Just how powerful, and how addicted, do you  want the people who know where you sleep? Who might even guard you as you sleep? On the one hand, you can get some pretty powerful soldiers fairly quickly, but you also run the risk of them becoming screamingly addicted and drinking your blood while you're helpless. Yes, they're blood bound to you... but does that matter when they're in the grip of a hunger frenzy?

So, just how hungry do you want your eaters of the dead to be? 


Monday, February 1, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 138: The Sick, Lame, and Lazy Round Table

                

In This Episode
No one had any segments ready and several contributors weren't feeling well, and so Weer'd, Oddball, Steve, and David got together to have a round table of 2nd Amendment news and miscellaneous discussion.

We talked about:

  • The COVID Vaccine and the changes to the lockdowns;
  • a new Kansas law that would recognize all carry permits (despite Kansas being a Constitutional Carry state);
  • Anti-Gunners that are targeting State Preemption;
  • Bloomberg targeting "gun influencers" on YouTube;
  • and why should you worry about gun control in a world of 3D Printers.




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Show Notes

The Fine Print


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