Gun rights activists plan to hand out candy to children. No, I'm not making this up.

[Robb]

On Saturday afternoon, October 19, your gun-bearing neighbor could be passing out candy or lemonade to kids playing or riding their bikes in the area. This Facebook event, "Guns Next Door," is a protest organized by gun activist group Gun Rights Across America, urging gun owners to open carry and to "be heard," apparently by ingratiating themselves to children throughout the nation.

As gun owner Bobbi Hughes-Millman wrote on the event page, "What kind of message are we sending by wearing a weapon and handing out candy to children? 'Look kids, there’s a man with a gun. He can be trusted!'" Whatever the group's intentions, this protest is not only a horrible idea and poorly thought out, but it also demonstrates a wider disregard from gun supporters for what is morally acceptable.

Consider, for instance, that most responsible parents regularly warn their children against taking candy from strangers. Whose bright idea was it to encourage gun owners to emulate kidnappers and pedophiles? How is Guns Next Door supposed to send a message to federal and state lawmakers when all these armed protesters are acting like major creeps throughout the neighborhood?

But perhaps what is most appalling is the continued lack of sensitivity that brazen gun activists continue to display....

Read More: http://www.policymic.com/articles/62407/gun-owners-take-to-the-streets-to-show-you-their-units

[hrmjustin]

1. I thought the SOP says no gun threads unless big news.

[NYC_SKP]

2. That's clearly how the SOP reads. This post belongs in the Gun Control Activist Group or Gungeon.

[hrmjustin]

3. Agreed.

[Go Vols]

13. +1

[onehandle]

5. Gun nuttery has an exception.

Status of "big news" exceptions:

Guns: The ongoing national debate over gun laws that has occurred since Sandy Hook is big news; discussion of gun control and related issues is currently permitted in GD. Gun porn, local gun-crime stories, and other narrowly-focused gun topics are not permitted.

[Lizzie Poppet]

7. "other narrowly-focused gun topics are not permitted"

But the rules don't apply if the post is seen as being in the "right" side of the issue...

[hrmjustin]

14. I tend to agree with Robb on guns but there is an SOP and it should be enforced.

[Lizzie Poppet]

15. Robb and I don't often agree, but he's usually really good about where he posts.

I find that Robb usually only posts gun stuff in GD that genuinely fits the SOP. The more narrowly-focused posts go in the Gun Control Activism group where they belong. This is an exception to the rule...

[hrmjustin]

19. Thanks for pointing out the exception.

To be honest I did not see it.

[sarisataka]

20. It is enforced...

in one direction.

"Good" gun stories get locked http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023609345

"Bad" gun stories are allowed including duplicates, like this OP, and " local gun-crime stories, and other narrowly-focused gun topics" which are specifically excluded in the exemption.

IMO the exception should be removed. We have two gun related groups where these stories can go.

[hrmjustin]

21. I did not see the exception. I should not have said this in this post.

[sarisataka]

23. Easy to overlook,

but as noted it is one sided. Allow me to demonstrate...

[Lizzie Poppet]

25. I concur with that conclusion, 100%

Gun stuff in GD has proven to be insanely divisive.

[Duckhunter935]

30. Agreed

and it is enforced very selectively

[onehandle]

17. This is a national issue. They are trying to make guns seem normal.

Should we have handled Zimmerman as a narrowly-focused story and sent it to the Florida forum?

[Jenoch]

31. If what you are referring to as not 'normal'

is open carry, then I agree with you. If not, then you are wrong because guns are normal.maybe a gun in your house is abnormal, but there has been more than one gun in every single home in which I have ever lived. The same can be said of my brothers and many people I know.

[hrmjustin]

22. Thanks for pointing it out. did not see that.

[Eleanors38]

33. Hey! Who's in the GD pilot house?! AGAIN: OP is LOCAL NEWS. nt

[onehandle]

35. 'Gun Rights Across America' is the national group sponsoring this 'Across the entire USA.'

You have an odd idea of 'LOCAL.'

[sarisataka]

38. And they are a group

almost a year old, of teaparty types focused on guns.

Until about four days ago almost no one ever heard of them. They sent a flyer about their 'event' to a local newspaper and it has gone viral helped spread, ironically, by gun control groups.

Now they have national attention, massive promotion of their ridiculous event, have people thinking they are representative of 'average' gun owners, 1500 Twitter followers and 37,000 facebook 'likes'...

[hrmjustin]

37. Local news is allowed in GD at times.

[Eleanors38]

39. Understood. Please check out the 3 re same Fla. Shooter (complete

with video & sound). One was posted by a GD Mod. There are numerous videos showing successful self-dense arms. Can those be posted?

Thanks for the discussion.

[hrmjustin]

41. I would have to see it to make an opinion on it. I do not know which one you are talking about.

But remember I am one host and others may have different opinions.

[Eleanors38]

58. Sorry for the delay, had to get a real computer....

https://www.google.com/search?q=florida+bush+doctrine+shooting&sitesearch=democraticunderground.com

You can select from a suite of "GD" postings. Please note the one which shows a video of dubious quality -- By BanesBane I believe -- but all have a similar ring: Take a local story, mass repetition, lots of negative remarks about gun-owners, Florida, and Bush Doctrine, etc. Is this of national significance? Does this qualify for the Big Picture?

If it is OK to post local self-defense stories -- complete with much more effective videos -- that can be done. But will they be allowed?

I understand there is a continuing problem you have to deal with, but if you want "tit for tat" postings (Skinner's words, I believe) regarding gun uses & their attendant videos, then I guess that's what we'll put up with. If you want an end to local news posing as a discussion of Democratic Party policy or wider national policy, that's OK too. But to allow one and not the other, is that fair?

Thanks for your attention.

[hrmjustin]

59. That is interesting. I think they would have survived. Consistency is sometimes not our strong suit,

but we are only human.

[Eleanors38]

60. I appreciate that. Now, is this GD I posted kosher? Thanks.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023631095

[hrmjustin]

61. This is a narrowly focused story so it could get locked but maybe not. To be honest

hosts are leaving a lot of posts up. It was not alerted on. The worst that could that happen is it gets locked.

[Eleanors38]

62. Probably all dealing with Zimmerman again!

[hrmjustin]

63. Well there was one Zimmerman post alerted on and the hosts are divided so it will likely stay.

[The Straight Story]

16. ONLY if it shows guns in a positive light (and about that candy thing....

Ever hear of halloween, parades where people throw them, etc?

As far as DU - some folks live to support a bias and freak out, and alert on threads that challenge their bias.

Not very progressive of course. A shame that some people want to play the fox news of DU and only show one side and prefer to live in a bubble and judge the 99% based on the 1%.

Maybe because they can't win debates? Maybe they only are angry/emotional and anything that does not feed that state of being scares them? I dunno. Just weird that having an open discussion on a topic upsets them so much that they have to alert on any threads that don't push their non-progressive stereotypes.

[ZombieHorde]

51. Free candy is always big news! nt

[nykym]

4. Momma said

to never take candy from a stranger!

[rl6214]

45. Never went trick or treating?

Or ti mardi gras type parties where they threw candy?

[onehandle]

6. Idiots still trying to make gun nuttery seem normal on a national level.

Tick tock, gun humpers.

[rl6214]

46. Juvenile post of the thread?

"Gun humpers"

[Tikki]

8. I'm informing my grandchildren to drop on the ground any candy given to them that day by anyone...

...and then to ask them to clean up their own mess.



Tikki

[sarisataka]

9. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023602747

[Eleanors38]

34. And AGAIN: In GD.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Spectacularly ugly idea. Thanks for the info. n/t

[lpbk2713]

11. They know they have a big time image problem.

And this drop in the bucket sure as hell won't help.

I just wonder if they got some spin control help from KKKarl Rover
or some other professional spinmeister asshole like that.

[KG]

12. they'll be driving one of these

they'll be giving away puppies at xmastime

[ileus]

18. wouldn't it be better to take a neighbor kid shooting?

And introduce them to a lifetime of shooting sports enjoyment?

[Lizzie Poppet]

26. That can also instill a very healthy respect for the destructive power of guns.

Kids grow up around all kinds of entertainment industry representations of the use of firearms (TV, film, video games, etc.), but even the most graphic, intense representations don't convey the real destructive power of firearms to a kid. The intensity of the sound, what they do to the target, etc... Shooting a watermelon or a water-filled plastic jug (which produces spectacular, eye-opening results) can get it across to a kid that these are not toys and can be incredibly dangerous devices better than any number of dry lectures or even videos.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

28. It worked well for Adam Lanza. nt

[Jenoch]

32. Adam Lanza was mentally ill

and neither of his parents did enough to get him the help he needed.

[Lizzie Poppet]

42. Well, golly, that obviously means it doesn't work...

...and the literally millions of kids who are taught about guns in this manner don't exist (or mean nothing).

[sarisataka]

29. Nearly anything would be better...

Stand in your front yard with your gun and hand out candy????

PR is NOT a good career choice for the person who came up with this

[AlinPA]

24. Stupidity.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

27. Oh, dear Lord.

These Open Carry folks are just a special breed.

[hunter]

36. It sounds like a good day to collect guns.

My arc welder is hungry.

[Lizzie Poppet]

44. Still playing Internet Tough Guy?

Do go on...that's always some funny shit, that is.

[hunter]

49. Can't help it.

My wild west great grandma could kill a bad man and call the county coroner-sheriff to clean up the mess and do the paperwork.

My mom (at the very least of her crazy) could tell off one of Generalísimo Franco's men. Which made my more sensible dad decide we should flee Spain in the middle of the night. The French border guard was awesome. He said, "Got any cigarettes?" and he looked sad when my dad said, "No."

But he waved us through anyways.

I do not speak of Serbia, and I do not fear your guns.

I like beer.

[Lizzie Poppet]

50. Well, we have at least one point of agreement!

Beer is good.

Beer is very good...

[hunter]

53. First you figure out why you have to carry a gun...

... then you figure out how not to,

[Rex]

40. Always a great idea to go out in public and have the hammer cocked.

Never know when you might have to shoot your own foot off!

[Lizzie Poppet]

43. That's a 1911.

The 1911 is actually most commonly carried in "Condition 1" like that: hammer back, a round in the chamber...but with the safety engaged. For defensive carry, it's the mode that makes sense. If there's not a round in the chamber, you need two hands to work the slide...and in a defensive situation, you might not have both hands available. If there's a round in the chamber but the hammer is down, you have to thumb cock it, and that's actually more likely to result in an accidental discharge under stress than manipulating the safety (the hammer spring is pretty stiff on a 1911...under stress, it would be easy to slip).

Now if that pistol is in Condition 0 (round in the chamber, hammer back, safety off), then that guy is indeed an idiot, and shouldn't' be trusted with anything more dangerous than a water pistol.

I have a 1911, and on the rare occasion that I use it as a carry weapon (not often...I'm quite small, and they're pretty big pistols and hard to conceal on a shrimp like me), I carry in Condition 1. FWIW...

[DanTex]

47. Always funny watching the gun crazies get technical...

[Duckhunter935]

52. facts is facts

[Lizzie Poppet]

48. Hmmm...I wonder who responded?

Response showing in "My Posts," but nothing in the thread means it's someone on my Ignore list...which has all of three people on it. I wonder which?

[Rex]

54. That is an interesting mental picture.

Ha true I just assumed he was walking around with the safety off. Let us hope not.

[Lizzie Poppet]

55. I hope not, too!

Anyone who pulls that sort of boneheaded move shouldn't own firearms...

[onehandle]

56. Leg.

[krispos42]

57. Bad idea

Except on Halloween, when MILLIONS of gun owners will be handing out candy to kids.