{"id":2968,"date":"2010-12-14T13:28:39","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T18:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gunpoliticsny.com\/?p=2968"},"modified":"2010-12-14T13:29:48","modified_gmt":"2010-12-14T18:29:48","slug":"when-antis-attack-throw-a-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gunpoliticsny.com\/?p=2968","title":{"rendered":"When antis attack, throw a party"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love stuff like this, “Defying faith leaders, Lansdowne gun shop supporters throw a pointed party<\/a>“:<\/p>\n

“They might as well have been on different planets, these side-by-side-counter-demonstrators outside Clyde\u2019s Sports Shop<\/a>, in Lansdowne on Saturday. \u00a0Gathering around a vintage combat-green armored reconnaissance vehicle and a troop carrier, about 175 of Clyde\u2019s pro-gun supporters, many wearing camouflage and waving American flags, spoke ardently about the Second Amendment<\/a> …, as a DJ played \u201cGod Bless America\u201d and The Rolling Stones\u2019 \u201c(I Can\u2019t Get No) Satisfaction.\u201d<\/a> … <\/em>Meanwhile, a couple hundred yards away in a vacant grassy lot, Clyde\u2019s critics \u2014 including some of Baltimore\u2019s most prominent religious leaders \u2014 were in a much less festive mood. \u00a0The interfaith group of about 75 people sang \u201cLet There Be Peace on Earth,\u201d heard from mothers whose children were killed by guns and repeated their plea that owner Clyde Blamberg do more to prevent guns from his shop from winding up in criminals\u2019 hands …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is exactly<\/span> how to deal with antigun crackpots. \u00a0When they try to claim a moral high ground, laugh at them. \u00a0They simply cannot deal with opponents who will not be intimidated by their shrieking.<\/p>\n

“… The Saturday prayer service near Clyde\u2019s is the latest action in an ongoing campaign by this interfaith coalition of Baltimore religious leaders who have affiliated with the group \u201cHeeding God\u2019s Call<\/a>.\u201d … Politely rebuffed when they sent a small delegation into Clyde\u2019s shop in October, the group has pledged to return periodically with these public actions … But the ministers and bishops, outnumbered at least two-to-one Saturday, weren\u2019t about to confront the pumped-up crowd in the Clyde\u2019s parking lot. \u201cThat would not be a good idea,\u201d said Bryan Miller, director of public advocacy for the Philadelphia-based Heeding God\u2019s Call …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Miller is a well-known gun control activist<\/a> in the NJ\/PA area. \u00a0Heeding God’s Call has all the hallmarks of a phony leftist front group. \u00a0They don’t even list a phone number or mailing address on their website.<\/p>\n

This is a typical tactic of the antigunners and leftists in general. \u00a0They create these astroturf groups<\/a> to give the illusion of public support. \u00a0Then they engage in publicity stunts like this to generate media attention for themselves and their cause and to try and scare their opponents into submission.<\/p>\n

“… Facing across the grass toward Clyde\u2019s (but too far away for the pro-gun group to hear) speakers tried to personalize the problem …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No, they didn’t. \u00a0What they were trying to do was blame the owners and patrons of Clyde’s for criminal violence. \u00a0If they had any real evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Clyde’s they could have taken it to the police. They didn’t do that. \u00a0They went for a PR stunt instead.<\/p>\n

“… Customers, and Blamberg, maintain that Clyde\u2019s has been \u201ca good store.\u201d … \u201cThey\u2019re barking up the wrong tree,\u201d said Chuck Kief, of Middle River. \u201cThey need to go back to their own neighborhoods and take care of their problems where they start.\u201d …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Exactly. \u00a0But doing that would require honestly dealing with the issue, something the antis have absolutely no intention of doing. \u00a0They want to ban guns, period.<\/p>\n