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Pink Pistols Set Record Straight on Gay 2nd Amendment Stance and Queer Shooters' Gay Rights Issues
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pink Pistols Set Record Straight on Gay 2nd Amendment Stance and Queer Shooters' Gay Rights Issues
Philadelphia, PA (PP National) April 19, 2004 - Over the weekend of April 18, the National Rifle Association held their annual convention in Pittsburgh, at which Vice President Dick Cheney was a voluble guest speaker against Sen. John F. Kerry's record of gun-rights predation.
"John Kerry's approach to the 2nd Amendment has been to regulate, regulate and regulate some more," Cheney warned, stressing that President George W. Bush was the only candidate to offer any appreciation for a pro-2nd Amendment stance whatsoever.
But many GLBT and anti-violence organizations -- including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Gay Men of African Descent, Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York, Mano A Mano, The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, Al-Fatiha, and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against De! famation -- have issued a joint press release criticizing both the NRA and the Vice President for their actions, their statements, and their choice of rights to support.
The issue: That the Bush administration supports the right to keep and bear arms, already a Constitutional right, but has made statements favoring a Constitutional amendment banning marriage between same-sex persons. This is seen by GLBT organizations as a fundamental hypocrisy on the part of the Republican Party, and of the Bush administration in particular.
The Pink Pistols has this to say regarding the issues brought up by the various GLBT organizations that spoke out on this very emotionally-charged topic.
"Yes, many crimes have been committed by criminals using firearms," said Gwen Patton, Pink Pistols National Media Spokesperson. "There are adequate laws that state that the commission of such crimes are illegal, and that those who perpetrate such crimes should be punished. Let the! m be enforced. It is the person who committed the crime, and not the t ool used, that is responsible for the evil done.?
"Also, just as there may have been 11,348 Americans killed and 45,316 injured by firearms, it is estimated that between 1.5 and 2.5 million crimes are prevented each year by the use of firearms, a growing number of these by GLBT persons who have taken up arms in their own self-defense. In addition, the number of injuries and deaths due to firearms has been steadily declining over the past 20 years, most notably those due to accidents."
Patton went on to point out that firearms are not weapons of mass destruction, they are tools of domestic defense. "Less than 1% of all firearms in the country are ever used for illicit purposes -- the remainder act as deterrents against crime, terrorist actions and foreign invasion. During World War II, the Japanese deliberately refused to invade our nation due to the presence of so many firearms in private hands -- and many terrorists have been neutralized in foreign nations by! armed private citizens. Neither are the 'assault weapons' affected by the Assault Weapons Ban 'machine guns', as was implied by Clarence Patton of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs." (Machine guns have been tightly regulated in the US since 1937.) "The AWB banned only rifles that fired a single shot with each pull of the trigger that resembled military machine guns superficially."
"The one area where the Pink Pistols agrees with these organizations is in the area of marriage," Patton continues. "The U. S. Government should not be deciding who marries whom. But to give up one set of rights for the sake of another is neither a victory nor a sign of wisdom. One cannot win one's heart's desire at the cost of one's heart. The right to bear arms is not the right to hunt ducks, or the right to buy noisy trinkets. It is the right to be safe, to be secure, and the right to defend one's self, one's family, and one's country against all evils -- whether they com! e from outside or from the inside. Gay rights will be an eventual real ity because they are the right and proper estate of gay citizens. They are inevitable, as were the rights of women and African-Americans. But the right to bear arms, once lost, may never be regained, and may result in irreparable harm to the nation."
"We are willing to fight for the former, even if it takes a lifetime," said Patton. "We are not willing to lose the latter, even for an instant. No compromise on either our gay rights OR our right to bear arms is acceptable to the Pink Pistols. But we realize the battle is not going to be won overnight, or even soon."
CONTACT INFORMATION
National Media Spokesperson
Gwendolyn S. Patton
Pink Pistols National
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pink Pistols Set Record Straight on Gay 2nd Amendment Stance and Queer Shooters' Gay Rights Issues
Philadelphia, PA (PP National) April 19, 2004 - Over the weekend of April 18, the National Rifle Association held their annual convention in Pittsburgh, at which Vice President Dick Cheney was a voluble guest speaker against Sen. John F. Kerry's record of gun-rights predation.
"John Kerry's approach to the 2nd Amendment has been to regulate, regulate and regulate some more," Cheney warned, stressing that President George W. Bush was the only candidate to offer any appreciation for a pro-2nd Amendment stance whatsoever.
But many GLBT and anti-violence organizations -- including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Gay Men of African Descent, Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York, Mano A Mano, The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, Al-Fatiha, and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against De! famation -- have issued a joint press release criticizing both the NRA and the Vice President for their actions, their statements, and their choice of rights to support.
The issue: That the Bush administration supports the right to keep and bear arms, already a Constitutional right, but has made statements favoring a Constitutional amendment banning marriage between same-sex persons. This is seen by GLBT organizations as a fundamental hypocrisy on the part of the Republican Party, and of the Bush administration in particular.
The Pink Pistols has this to say regarding the issues brought up by the various GLBT organizations that spoke out on this very emotionally-charged topic.
"Yes, many crimes have been committed by criminals using firearms," said Gwen Patton, Pink Pistols National Media Spokesperson. "There are adequate laws that state that the commission of such crimes are illegal, and that those who perpetrate such crimes should be punished. Let the! m be enforced. It is the person who committed the crime, and not the t ool used, that is responsible for the evil done.?
"Also, just as there may have been 11,348 Americans killed and 45,316 injured by firearms, it is estimated that between 1.5 and 2.5 million crimes are prevented each year by the use of firearms, a growing number of these by GLBT persons who have taken up arms in their own self-defense. In addition, the number of injuries and deaths due to firearms has been steadily declining over the past 20 years, most notably those due to accidents."
Patton went on to point out that firearms are not weapons of mass destruction, they are tools of domestic defense. "Less than 1% of all firearms in the country are ever used for illicit purposes -- the remainder act as deterrents against crime, terrorist actions and foreign invasion. During World War II, the Japanese deliberately refused to invade our nation due to the presence of so many firearms in private hands -- and many terrorists have been neutralized in foreign nations by! armed private citizens. Neither are the 'assault weapons' affected by the Assault Weapons Ban 'machine guns', as was implied by Clarence Patton of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs." (Machine guns have been tightly regulated in the US since 1937.) "The AWB banned only rifles that fired a single shot with each pull of the trigger that resembled military machine guns superficially."
"The one area where the Pink Pistols agrees with these organizations is in the area of marriage," Patton continues. "The U. S. Government should not be deciding who marries whom. But to give up one set of rights for the sake of another is neither a victory nor a sign of wisdom. One cannot win one's heart's desire at the cost of one's heart. The right to bear arms is not the right to hunt ducks, or the right to buy noisy trinkets. It is the right to be safe, to be secure, and the right to defend one's self, one's family, and one's country against all evils -- whether they com! e from outside or from the inside. Gay rights will be an eventual real ity because they are the right and proper estate of gay citizens. They are inevitable, as were the rights of women and African-Americans. But the right to bear arms, once lost, may never be regained, and may result in irreparable harm to the nation."
"We are willing to fight for the former, even if it takes a lifetime," said Patton. "We are not willing to lose the latter, even for an instant. No compromise on either our gay rights OR our right to bear arms is acceptable to the Pink Pistols. But we realize the battle is not going to be won overnight, or even soon."
CONTACT INFORMATION
National Media Spokesperson
Gwendolyn S. Patton
Pink Pistols National
Everyone will be happy ... except the dumbasses that think Boy Scouts should let girls join. 