There's a billboard up in Omaha advocating for guns.
The premise behind this piece of propaganda. is that people having a gun will save their life against an aggressor. On this MLK Day, I find myself wondering what Martin Luther King Jr would think of this campaign.
Would his supporters have been more, or less safe, if they were carrying guns?
How about the events that surrounded another man named King?
Would Rodney King have been more, or less, safe if he'd had a gun?
How about Reginald Denny?
If Denny had ended up shooting his attackers, how would that have affected the already dangerous race riots?
How about people today encountering violence from the police. How would guns save their lives?
I'm not advocating for taking guns away. I'm not saying their presence can never be a good thing. I'm just saying I wish gun advocates would use their damn brains before putting out vague propaganda that isn't even supported by fact or before they boycott businesses wanting to keep themselves free of tools of violence.
These dishonest billboards and unnecessarily punitive boycotts are part of why an honest conversation on guns & violence is all but impossible. There's a reason most of us tend to try to avoid the subject, especially around family, friends, and coworkers.
Guns are designed to kill. That is literally their purpose. I wish gun advocates would at least be honest about that basic fact.
The premise behind this piece of propaganda. is that people having a gun will save their life against an aggressor. On this MLK Day, I find myself wondering what Martin Luther King Jr would think of this campaign.
Would his supporters have been more, or less safe, if they were carrying guns?
How about the events that surrounded another man named King?
Would Rodney King have been more, or less, safe if he'd had a gun?
How about Reginald Denny?
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How about people today encountering violence from the police. How would guns save their lives?
I'm not advocating for taking guns away. I'm not saying their presence can never be a good thing. I'm just saying I wish gun advocates would use their damn brains before putting out vague propaganda that isn't even supported by fact or before they boycott businesses wanting to keep themselves free of tools of violence.
These dishonest billboards and unnecessarily punitive boycotts are part of why an honest conversation on guns & violence is all but impossible. There's a reason most of us tend to try to avoid the subject, especially around family, friends, and coworkers.
Guns are designed to kill. That is literally their purpose. I wish gun advocates would at least be honest about that basic fact.
If there is an argument to be made that guns help defend civil rights, it most certainly is not an argument that stems from King's thinking. Part of the right wing play on this topic has been an effort to recruit King's name in the service of their own agenda, and that is incredibly dishonest of them.
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