GOP lawmakers wore pearls while gun violence victims testified. Activists were outraged.

[Danmel]

Source: Washington Post

A handful of male lawmakers dressed up for a hearing they presided over Tuesday in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, donning pearl necklaces as activists testified about their experiences with gun violence.

Images from the statehouse — where legislators were considering arguments over a bill that would make it easier to take guns away from potentially dangerous people — caromed across social media as critics lobbed accusations of sexism and insensitivity at the necklace-wearing men.

The implication was clear, they said: These politicians thought gun-control activists were “clutching their pearls” in overwrought and self-righteous outrage — and, specifically, female outrage.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/2019/03/06/gop-lawmakers-wore-pearls-while-gun-violence-victims-testified-activists-were-outraged/

---

There is no low to which they will not sink

[burrowowl]

1. God Damn THEM!

[FiveGoodMen]

38. At the very least

[Solly Mack]

2. Outright laughing at the victims, more or less.

Of course the hypocrites would deny that that was what they were doing - laughing at and mocking the victims of gun violence.

[dalton99a]

3. There is no depth to their depravity.

[JDC]

4. THOSE are some seriously shitty people right there

*typo

[Hortensis]

29. :) Those are some seriously STUPID people there.

The 5 male Republicans all have to start campaigning for reelection, and just guess what's going to be all over their districts?

[tiptonic]

5. Maybe

Maybe those idiots with pearls, were trying to make their penises grow, with help from the NRA.

[PatSeg]

6. Damn!

That is truly brutal.

[UpInArms]

7. This is beyond rude

Snotty asswipes .... 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[sheshe2]

13. Swine wearing pearls. nt

[Dem2theMax]

20. I'd lay odds that Rep. Wallace has a white hood in his closet.

That, or some Nazi memorabilia. Look at all the lapel pins on his jacket.

Utter assholes. How disgusting can they get? Don't answer that. I'm sure they can, and will, get a lot worse than this.

[chwaliszewski]

22. A white hood in his closet?

Hell, he's probably got one in the passenger seat of his truck.

[Dem2theMax]

26. True.

And of course the gun in the gun rack. I'm sure the gun matches the lapel pin gun.

I can't wait for sanity to reign supreme in this country again.

[Marie Marie]

8. They look as stupid as they act.

This is Trump level stupid.

[NoMoreRepugs]

9. Isn't "feces" French for "Republican?"

[Haggis for Breakfast]

10. I suppose (yawn) they thought they were being amusing.

Except there's NOTHING amusing about gun violence.

I'd invite every one of those bastards to visit my niece's school - Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida - with their pearl necklaces. But then, they might learn something.

I am so sick of these gun-humping, trigger-happy fuckwads. How DARE you sit there and mock the victims of gun violence ??

[area51]

11. MFers!

[defacto7]

12. More intimidation. Bunch of jackasses.

[TeamPooka]

14. Not enough. We need to push them into full Klinger cross dressing mode. To embarass "us"

[NBachers]

15. I can't adequately express myself without going way, way over the line on them.

[DirtEdonE]

16. They just can't wait to proudly display

What complete assholes they truly are.

THIS type of infantile display is one more reason why none of these idiots needs to own a gun.

Every one of these gun toting maniacs is a "law-abiding citizen" until they inevitably lose it and turn to their man-maker, their firearm. Then they're no longer law-abiding, they're just another fucking nut with a gun.

[LibDemAlways]

17. I certainly hope there are enough sane voters to

shoot these idiots down (figuratively, of course) on their next ballot appearance. They all deserve to be thrown out on their sorry asses and branded with an "A" for asshole on their foreheads.

[Alwaysna]

18. Are you ever curious what "karma" will do with these entitled, arrogant , ignorant chickenshits?

[SunSeeker]

19. Sickening. nt

[Talitha]

21. I hope this heinous act haunts them for the rest of their lives.

Damn them.

(If I said what I really wanted to, my post would be deleted...
Just use your imagination regarding what I'd say - you'll probably be spot-on.)

[KY_EnviroGuy]

23. News and comments from local sources...

as expected, Repugs try to throw shade.....

Lawmakers with pearl necklaces at hearing on 'red flag' bill stir social media
By DAVE SOLOMON New Hampshire Union Leader Mar 5, 2019

Read here: https://www.unionleader.com/news/crime/lawmakers-with-pearl-necklaces-at-hearing-on-red-flag-bill/article_ef9156c0-db59-59e9-9bd2-e028f50aa103.html?block_id=664688

(snip)

CONCORD — Gun control activist Shannon Watts of Colorado, who founded Moms Demand Action for Guns Sense after the Sandy Hook school massacre, started a social media firestorm on Tuesday with a tweet from the New Hampshire State House.

Watts tweeted pictures of male lawmakers sporting long pearl necklaces to her nearly 300,000 followers as she observed the morning session of Tuesday’s hearing on a red flag law proposed in the Granite State. Red flag laws allow for the confiscation of firearms from an individual who may be a risk to himself or others, based on a judge’s order.

“Male New Hampshire lawmakers on the hearing committee wearing pearls to mock @MomsDemand volunteers and gun safety advocates,” Watts tweeted.

-------------
Did not find a mentions of it in the Concord Monitor, but this article describes quite a row over a gun control bill from Feb. 27:

Legislator warns N.H. will have ‘dead children’ if school gun ban passes
By ETHAN DeWITT
Monitor staff Published: 2/27/2019

Link: https://www.concordmonitor.com/New-Hampshire-House-gun-free-zone-bill-John-Burt-reprimand-23790930

(snip)

A Goffstown State Representative predicted New Hampshire would see a school shooting and “dead children” if lawmakers passed a statewide “gun-free zone” bill.

The comments came during the debate for House Bill 564, which would establish a blanket ban on loaded firearms on school grounds or school buses, making exceptions for law enforcement officials and those picking up children who leave their unloaded firearms in their vehicles.

...........

[BlueIdaho]

24. You can't reason with these fuckers

You can only replace them.

[FM123]

28. Truer words have not been spoken!

[OMGWTF]

25. Sociopaths! Get them the hell out of The People's House!

[Dennis Donovan]

27. NH - Florida, but with moose...

I kid I kid! (...kinda).

[Dennis Donovan]

30. So, I googled "Rep Wallace NH"...

...yeah the dimwit in the middle of this photo.

https://www.citizenscount.org/candidate/scott-wallace

BACKGROUND
Experience
Representative, NH House of Representatives (2016 - present); Owner/Operator, Birch Tree Auto and Truck Repair, Inc.; President, Braveheart Realty, Inc.; State Director, Convention of States; Justice of the Peace; pilot

[keithbvadu2]

31. What if it was their family the victims of gun violence?

What if it was their family the victims of gun violence?

[tanyev]

32. I remember when Republicans used to care about appearing as if they were sympathetic lawmakers.

Obviously those days are over.

[zipplewrath]

33. This isn't what it appears

Only one problem: Shannon Watts was completely wrong.

“We were given the pearls by the Women’s Defense League,” Rep. Scott Wallace told NHJournal. “They ask us to wear them as a sign of support. And not just the guys. Women legislators were wearing them, too.”

Pro-2A lawmakers, male and female, wear pearls at the request of the NH Women’s Defense League.

Kimberly Morin, president of the Women’s Defense League of New Hampshire, confirmed Wallace’s account.

“Several years ago during a hearing on the issue of constitutional carry — ironically in the same hall — the Women’s Defense League testified,” Morin said. “We were dressed in business suits, business professional attire, and a few of us happened to be wearing pearls. Ever since then, we made pearls a symbol of the women’s Defense League and supporting women’s rights, the Second Amendment, and being against gun control”

In fact, Morin notes, when Gov. Chris Sununu signed the constitutional carry bill two years ago, he was given a string of pearls by the Women’s Defense League.

Lots of pearls at the signing of the “constitutional carry” bill in 2017.

Now, it’s easy to see how wearing pearls to support a woman’s right to keep and bear arms in self defense could be confusing. So it’s entirely possible that Watts and other anti-gun activists simply jumped the gun (pardon the pun) and mistakenly smeared these GOP lawmakers as insensitive oafs who mocked grieving mothers. It could all be a simple misunderstanding.

Except it’s not. When the Union-Leader’s Dave Solomon caught up with Watts and explained the symbolism and its source, Shannon Watts continued to repeat her clearly untrue claim that Republicans were mocking grieving moms.

“These lawmakers decided to wear symbols that essentially mocked the process,” she said.

https://www.insidesources.com/no-n-h-gop-legislators-did-not-wear-pearls-to-mock-grieving-mothers-and-shannon-watts-knows-it/

[LakeArenal]

35. Wow! That is important to know.

I was stupefied that GOP would do that.
I wish this article would get more play.

But then... never mind. Those same dudes probably wouldn’t give a Dem the benefit of doubt either.

[2naSalit]

34. I hope karma hits them hard and where it hurts them the most...nt

[FiveGoodMen]

43. There is no karma

WE punish them, or they get away with it.

[RobinA]

36. Outrageaholics Strike Again

It people would stop with the instant outrage at every little thing, this stuff would not be happening. Even if the story were true, it's so idiotic it isn't even worth a share. And I don't own a gun, never shot a gun, and am agnostic on gun control.

[Blue_Tires]

37. Mocking a woman who doesn't want her kids shot at school?

Real fuckin' tough guy this asshole is... Real comedian

[ProfessorPlum]

39. What. The. Fuck

subhuman monsters.


I will note for the record that here on DU, if you even imply another poster is pearl clutching, your post will be hidden. To me, that is overly sensitive. But what these fucksticks are doing is seriously evil.

[Gatoloco]

40. They'll burn in hell

Guaranteed.

[FiveGoodMen]

44. If only there were one

They'll get away with everything unless WE do the punishing.

[geralmar]

41. Maybe they're wearing pearls because...

They're, you know, effeminate.

[EarthFirst]

42. I see what you did there...

It wasn’t amusing either.

When you find your humor in using gender-based punchlines; you’ve reached the bottom of the barrel.

It’s the 21st century; try to keep up...

[Bob Loblaw]

45. There's an alternate meaning for pearl necklace

according to the Urban dictionary.

[SpankMe]

46. Pure assholes. Absolutely pure. n/t

[Marcuse]

47. Clutching their pearls and guns.