Last Sunday, as I walked past the Washington monument, I saw signs that read: "Gun control is racist, sexist, and classist," "fascist go home," "Rapists hate gun owners," and (my favorite) "A good grip: my idea of gun control." As you may have guessed, I was not at the Million Mom March, which was full of mothers fearful of recent school shootings, but at a nearby counter-demonstration, put on by a newly formed anti-gun control group calling themselves the Second Amendment Sisters.
The whole point of the Sisters' demonstration, to my mind, was to try to show the softer side to the NRA. -- that not all anti-gun control advocates were macho militiamen. While some of the "Sisters" were actually old men with tattoos and beards, many were moms and ordinary Americans who said they just loved their guns and their freedom. (The group had originally called themselves Moms for Guns, but wisely reconsidered.)
Calling themselves the "newest civil rights organization of the 21st century," the Sisters argued that guns protect victims in our society. It is, in effect, discrimination to not allow minorities of gender, class, religion, age, or race to have guns. "Rapists love trigger locks" read one absurd button, near a sign that said "Privileged women should not have the right to deny poor and working class women a right to self defense." One old lady in a wheelchair had a large poster that read "grannies against gun control" and had a drawing of an old lady shooting a robber. Other signs said Jews at concentration camps should have had guns, as should have Juanita Broaderick, the woman President Clinton allegedly raped.
While there is some truth that gun control can be used to deny minorities weapons (as was the case in the South in the United States), anti-gun control advocates take the case for a right to bear arms to rhetorical extremes. For criminal attacks, pepper spray is often an effective weapon. If you think hand guns are needed for self-defense, then registration and licensing is a sensible
idea, so that people can lawfully obtain them. It hardly projects a "softer image" for gun-rights advocates when their signs scream that registration of firearms will lead to genocide.
The speakers on stage did not really make a feminist defense of gun control, arguing instead that we will all be victims of Big Government if Clinton and his Million Mom cronies have their way. One Eastern European speaker said growing up in a communist country showed her that civil disarmament is the first step towards tyranny. But she also said that her communist homeland, unlike the United States, had enforced it laws and stopped criminals, ridiculously parroting the NRA's line about enforcing existing laws, not making new ones. Another speaker talked about how a relative died in the Holocaust. But clearly, we have to stop the arms race between civilians and criminals somewhere, limiting the right to bear arms. Or as one libertarian said when asked about his position on the private ownership of nuclear weapons: it depends how tough the neighborhood is.
The Sister's logic was that firearms are needed to protect against government tyranny, as demonstrated by the Waco and Elian Gonzalez raids. But this is paranoia. What are semi-automatic rifles and "Saturday night specials" truly needed for? For hunting the super deer? Conservative politicians scream that eliminating the "gun show loophole" run against claims by gun collectors. But should we let anyone collect any and as many weapons as they want? "I like the way that anthrax container looks on my mantle" is not a valid reason when so many die from guns. Unless we are prepared to allow massive private ownership of tanks and stealth bombers, the U.S. government will have a military edge against civilians.
Of course, the likelihood of U.S. authorities waging war is slim. As the Second Amendment Sisters marched through Washington, policemen gave them a thumbs up. I think the immediate and pressing danger of the wide availability of guns is far more pressing. While anti-government paranoia was a strong theme, another important belief of the Sisters was, as one sign said, "More guns = less crime." Ridiculous statistics were given on how much crime guns prevented, and the Sisters were sure "the facts" were on their side. For some reason, the Sisters started chanting "ignorance is bliss" as they passed the Million Moms. At the end of their march through Washington, the Sisters chanted "Thank you police!" the final irony for a group who so distrusts authority.
