Protesters ridiculed at gun rally
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Guns and nonviolence
Mike Williams finds it ironic that gun-control opponents are quoting Martin Luther King Jr.Three people stood out at the pro-gun rights rally on the holiday celebration of a nonviolent American martyr.
Each bore signs with photos of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and John and Robert Kennedy beneath the message "Guns Didn't Save These Lives."
They were silently protesting a Virginia Citizens Defense League rally against gun regulation, which drew about 200 gun-rights supporters to the state Capitol Bell Tower at 11 a.m.
"Today is a day set aside to honor a peace-loving person who was killed by a gun," said Andrew L. Goddard of the Richmond chapter of the Million Mom March and the father of a survivor of the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech shootings.
"I don't think it honors Martin Luther King to be out here expounding on the virtues of guns," said Goddard, who was joined by Lori Haas, the mother of another surviving Tech victim, and Alice Mountjoy of the Virginia Center for Public Safety.
After Mountjoy left, the two remaining protesters were held up to ridicule by one of the rally's speakers, Mary Katharine Ham, a regular on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News. "Two of them, that's cute," she said.
Ham, 28, a blogger for The Weekly Standard magazine, asked why the protesters weren't lying down -- a reference to a "die-in" protest last week outside the state Capitol by families affected by the Tech massacre.
She criticized those who questioned the appropriateness of the rally on King's holiday -- ironic at an event focused on individual rights.
But her attitude was typical of the rally's half-dozen speakers. Anyone in favor of gun restrictions was dismissed as a self-promoting egotist, ignorant or simply freedom-hating. Sometimes, the swagger on display would have made Clint Eastwood blush. The cheering crowd ate it up.
"I have always found that a 9 millimeter is a hell of an equalizer," Ham said on the usefulness of firearms for women.
Ham also tried to turn King into an NRA poster person by quoting from a 1966 speech by the civil-rights leader.
"It goes without saying that people will protect their homes. This is a right guaranteed by the Constitution and respected even in the worst areas of the South," she quoted King as saying, as if such an assertion placed King in league with Charlton Heston.
The title of King's speech -- "Nonviolence: The Only Road to Freedom" -- gave the remarks a context Ham attempted to strip from them.
Her speech avoided other King quotes, such as:
"Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him."
And: "By our readiness to allow arms to be purchased at will and fired at whim . . . we have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have become popular pastimes."
To suggest that King would march in lockstep with this pro-gun crowd is an assault on his legacy.
Contact Michael Paul Williams at
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Reader Reactions
As the one who organized Lobby Day for the Virginia Citizens Defense League, and was standing not 20 feet from you, I find it interesting that out of hundreds of pro-gun, law-abiding citizens present, you interviewed NOT ONE. You did, however, make a bee line to one of only 3 anti-gun demonstrators who showed up. You also criticized Mary Katharine Ham for her comments but didn’t utter a word of criticism about Rev. Ken Blanchard and his comments. And you were aware that he would be speaking because I made the announcement while you were standing right there.
What this boils down to is out and out racism on your part. You’re perfectly happy to vent your bias on a White female. That’s pretty convenient and easy. But a Black preacher. Whoa, that’s a different story. You don’t have the courage to stray into that territory.
As Mary Katharine told me later, “Not so big on reading comprehension is he? He missed the line, The point being, that there was a role for self defense even in the most famous non-violent political movement in American history”.
As I told Mary Katharine, you didn’t miss the line, you chose to ignore it. When a White person exhibits racism it’s plastered all over the news, print and electronic. When a Black person does it, especially one of the media, it’s, well, it’s called reporting. You and your paper should be ashamed.
David Vann
Executive Member, Virginia Citizens Defense League
4Freedom;
Thank you for responding with left wing lunacy, justy as I expected.
The murder rate in the UK has been going UP. Up 150% in the 20th century. The banning of guns in 1997 did nothing to aleviate the problem, it only made it worse.
I admit I am “right wing”—my experience in life shows the right wing philosophy of individual freedom works much better than the left wing philosophy of collectivism and constriction of rights. In fact, I have been overseas, so your prejudicial assumptions are demonstrated right there.
As far as Great Britain being “free” I don’t count it as free, since they deny the right of self defense, an inherent right owned by any person who believes they own their own life, not the state.
Britain’s gun laws may be tough—but they are NOT smart; they are totalitarian. Only totalitarian countries would deny citizens the right to own the means to defend themselves. Of course, delusional left wing statists will deny this. Washington’s criminal’s exploiting other staes’ laws .... OF COURSE they ARE—THAT’S THE POINT!!!!! It is the NATURE of the criminal to violate the law, and THAT is why gun control laws DO NOT WORK. They aren’t in the UK—-their criminals are acquiring guns plentifully, in case you haven’t noticed. It is very like statists like you, when they find their guncontrol schemes don’t work, then to blame other states like Virginia for their own failures, rather than to accept the simple fact that criminals will break any law. Keep whining about other states’ “lax laws,“ why don’t you??? You reveal your own thick-headedness right there!
And, yeah, like it or not, it IS about freedom. You know what happens after guns are registered and confiscated???
What happened in so many couintries—China, Thailand, Russia, Germany.
If you are so utterly foolish to think it can’t happen here, ask the American Indian how well he faired during the 19th century. Then sit back and reflect on the arrogant, sanctimonious snottiness in your own previous post and consider what might provide a human being motivation for oppression.
Martin Luther King, Liberation Magazine (October, 1959)
Here one must be clear that there are three different views on the subject of violence. One is the approach of pure nonviolence, which cannot readily or easily attract large masses, for it requires extraordinary discipline and courage. The second is violence exercised in self-defense, which all societies, from the most primitive to the most cultured and civilized, accept as moral and legal.
The principle of self-defense, even involving weapons and bloodshed, has never been condemned, even by Gandhi, who sanctioned it for those unable to master pure nonviolence. The third is the advocacy of violence as a tool of advancement, organized as in warfare, deliberately and consciously
If anyone think we are going to go the way of the UK and bend over for gun control they are sadly mistaken. The UK is now paying the price for not fighting for there rights from the start, being organized and not giving an inch. Thank goodness we stand up for our right to defense in this country!
Gun Control does not work, except to make the life of criminals easier and expand power of tyrants.
You guys live in a fantasy world. No one would have opposed the VCDL agenda more than King. Here is a direct quote from his autobiography:
“Many of the officers of my church and other trusted friends urged me to hire a bodyguard and armed watchmen for my house … In order to satisfy the wishes of these close friends and associates, I decided to consider the question of an armed guard. I went down to the sheriff’s office and applied for a license to carry a gun in the car; but this was refused. Meanwhile I reconsidered. How could I serve as one of the leaders of a nonviolent movement and at the same time use weapons of violence for my personal protection? [My wife] Coretta and I talked the matter over for several days and finally agreed that arms were no solution. We decided then to get rid of the one weapon we owned ... I was much more afraid in Montgomery when I had a gun in my house … Had we become distracted by the question of my safety we would have lost the moral offensive and sunk to the level of our oppressors.”
Mayors Against Illegal Guns. For those of you who don’t know. It is funded by the massively anti gun Joyce Foundation. A little bio on some of their founders is in order. Bloomberg conspired to commit FEDERAL firearms violations to build CIVIL cases against out of state gun shops. He committed FEDERAL felonies and should have been prosecuted. Unable to fight the power of NYC’s vast legal resources most of the gunshops were forced to close doors or knuckle under to his outlandish and petty restrictions. Frank Melton of Mississipi was convicted of carrying a firearm on campus grounds. Daley of Chicago is the poster boy for corruption, graft and hating firearms. A half dozen mayors left the organization when they realized that Mayors are not against JUST illegal guns. All guns is what they are after. Big freakin’ surprise.
Forgive me for calling B*llsh*t on their ‘study’ regarding americans being in favor of closing the gunshow loophole. I guess the end justifies the means with people like you.
England and gun safety can be neatly summed up:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5375668.ece
Bill collectors can now forcefully break into your home and use restraint or other methods to allow them to take back any property that you might default upon. Nice to see the government allowing private industry thugs to do this. Wouldn’t happen if the english were allowed to arm themselves. Of course the government assures brits that it will be strictly regulated to disallow misuse of their new powers. Interested in buying any bridges? If you aren’t disgusted by this change of events then you really should move and reside happily in your little gun free utopia. One of the comments at the end of the article says they ought to hold a demonstration to show the home office how they feel. It was tempered with, ‘But who will pay the bill the police department submits to the organizers of the demonstration?‘
Those of you who think VCDL are out of order using quotes from DR. King and somehow disrespect his legacy of civil rights have your heads so far removed from reality it boggles the mind. The second ammendment is about rights and freedom. You are just bent because it’s a right or freedom you don’t like.
I find it kinda funny that Dr. King would be so against denying blacks civil rights but ignore the most important aspect of the Bill Of Rights. Either his legacy has been somehow perverted or he was awefully selective on the Bill Of Rights he wished would apply to all Americans.
MarkHT, it’s not a “numbers game” to point out the murder rate in the U.S. is more than three times higher than the murder rate in Britain. It’s not a “numbers game” to point out that the gun death rate in the U.S. is more than 10 times higher than the gun death rate in Britain. Our pathetically weak gun laws in America have not made us safer, they have put our lives at risk. Britain’s smart, tough gun laws have denied criminals easy access to guns and made them safer and far less likely to be murdered.
And the only person who is going to believe your ridiculous argument that Britain isn’t free is a right wing paranoid lunatic who has never even been overseas. It leaves your argument bare. This is not about “freedom.“ It’s about the fact that you guys love guns…more than human life.
As for Washington, DC, it’s not DC’s laws that criminals there are exploiting to get guns. 97% of DC’s crime guns come from outside states. 25% of DC’s crime guns came from Virginia alone in 2007. Criminals know exactly which states to go to to get guns with no problem, and Virginia is at the top of their list.
As for Russia, my standard of comparison for my country is not an authoritarian state run by a former KGB agent.
Someone should tell this chump Michael Paul Williams something he seams to not know.
The Good Mr. Charlton Heston marched with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr…
http://www.danzfamily.com/archives/blogphotos/08/879-poitier-belafonte-heston.jpg
Freedom4all,
I would suggest that if you look at the TRENDS in crime in the UK you will find that the murder rate has generally gone up. The last statistic I heard indicated that murder rate in the UK went up 150% in the twentieth century.
If you wish to play numbers games, I’d point out that many people who use them cherry pick stats to support their arguments. England is often used in an attempt to prove gun control works, but Russia has very severe guncontrol laws and their murder rates are quite high.
If you examine Washington DC, they have quite severe gun laws, and the murder rate is so high that DC is often said to be the murder capital of America.
Gun Control does NOT work.
And anyway, I hardly consider the British to be “just as free” as we are.
Any country with so severe gun laws, by definition, cannot be said to be “freer than America.“
But ...I guess we’ll just have to disagree with each other on that point.
Great, now we have VCDL members calling King “ignorant.“ I guess disrespecting him on his national holiday wasn’t enough.
Here’s a link to the January 2008 national poll that found that 87% of Americans support closing the Gun Show Loophole. 83% of gun owners also favor closing the loophole, reinforcing VCDL’s far right wing fringe status:
http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/downloads/pdf/polling_memo.pdf
And yeah, let’s talk about gun control laws in Britain. Here’s the most recent data from 2005 comparing the U.S. and Britain (with rates per 100,000 population in parentheses):
Total # of Homicides in 2005: England & Wales 859 (1.61), USA 16,740 (5.65)
Total # of Gun Homicides in 2005: England & Wales 73 (0.14), USA 12,352 (4.17)
Total # of Gun Deaths in 2005: England & Wales 185 (0.35), USA 30,694 (10.35)
For the last year recorded, Britain only had 9,308 total firearm offenses OVERALL. The U.S. has more than 12,000 gun HOMICIDES alone in a given year, and more than 600,000 total firearm-related offenses annually.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0708.pdf
England’s tough gun laws have worked phenomenally well in protecting their citizens, who are every bit as free as Americans are. We’d do well to learn from them.
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