Remember the Sandy Hook riders from a few weeks ago? They had to change their venue to a church because of complaints to the school that they were using it for a political rally. The school agreed. Looks like someone showed up at the church trying to hand out literature. The smart thing for our opponents to do would be to get the church to ask the person to leave. A refusal would be a trespass, and the activist would have known this. Instead, one of their people went into full-on rage mode and started going around acting like everyone’s psychotic den mother:
It all could have been over in a second if he had just been asked to leave by someone who had the authority to do so. Instead, she chose to make a spectacle of it, and came off looking like the crazy person in the situation. They make mistakes too. The key, I think, is for us to make fewer of them than they do.
too funny she keeps referring to him as a parasite
Sigh… At least our side handled the confrontation better than they did…
The funny thing is the woman who kept calling him a parasite never read what he was handing out.
Here is the text that was on the papers he was handing out, which was written by the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. A group that is both pro-legalization and pro-gun. (http://www.leap.cc/)
Reducing Gun Violence Isn’t About Gun Control – It’s About the Drug War – leap.cc
So much has been said in recent months on the subject of gun violence, but in the midst of this heated debate, one obvious solution to rampant gun violence has often been downplayed or overlooked: ending drug prohibition.
As street cops, prosecutors, judges and others who have worked in every facet of drug prohibition, and as those who support them, LEAP members know that the overwhelming majority of preventable gun violence is directly and predictably tied to turf battles over the control of currently illegal drugs. As members representing the full spectrum of opinion on gun control, we know that reducing gun violence has little to do with either gun control or gun rights.
Sadly, today gun violence typically only generates national soul-searching after tragedies unrelated to drug policy, such as the horrifying mass shooting in Newtown, CT. When the issue does arise, it is framed as a partisan debate between those who favor gun control and those who don’t, without looking at the underlying causes for the violence.
As with the last war on drugs (known as Alcohol Prohibition), our current drug policies have created a grinding, ongoing slaughter. Those who deal in illicit drugs lack recourse to non-violent conflict resolution, hence the reliance on guns. Guns for self protection. Guns to expand market share. Guns to send competitors and community activists a message. And, because drug sales are unregulated, they can buy those guns tax-free.
But it doesn’t have to be this way: Street dealers and cartels are not shooting up communities over control of dangerous drugs like alcohol or cigarettes, which our predecessors legalized, regulated and controlled. Once we remove currently prohibited drugs from gang control, the perversely rational need for guns will diminish—along with the incentive to market to the young.
Proposals to tighten or relax gun laws, monitor the mentally ill, or put more cops on the street all address the symptoms of gun violence. Changing our drug policies to end drug prohibition is the single most effective way to drastically reduce gun violence by addressing the cause.
Changing our drug policies to end drug prohibition is the single most effective way to drastically reduce gun violence.
I would say that LEAP is neutral on the gun issue. Their view that the war on drugs drives crime definitely helps our cause though.
The guy handing out the papers in that video is a well known Philadelphia area Libertarian activist.
Here is a link to his blog posting about a gun buyback last year, that I also attended, to out-bid the group that was running the gun buyback.
Then money shot was when he got one of the local politicians to admit that he owns guns and has a LTCF.
http://theinternationallibertarian.blogspot.com/2013/03/gun-rights-activists-not-welcome-in.html
Thanks, Ed
How does anyone have the tolerance for non-answers and BS phrases repeated over and over like 5 year olds?
All we have to do when “debating” an anti is remember we will not “win” and stop investing emotion into trying.
They are not going to be swayed by our arguments, instead we are *always* arguing for the benefit of the audience. That means we cannot allow ourselves to be vulgar, insulting, or profane.
Simply remaining firm, calm, polite, factual, and rational in our arguments (no: “What part of ‘shall not be infringed’…” or conspiracy theories about black helicopters or FEMA camps) will *consistently* drive them into a rage in just a few minutes.
End result? We win the favor or neutrality of the onlookers because they would rather associate themselves with the position of the sane, calm, normal person than that of the spittle-flecked rage monster.
Nice move on her part when she pretended to feel threatened and asked for someone to stand with her (after she just stalked pamphlet dude for who knows how long). I think that was Rules for Radicals rule #13. I’m surprised she didn’t point at him and start screaming “Get away, child molester/rapist/whatever!”, which I’ve actually seen people do.
Problem is, when the other side makes mistakes, it never happened. Did you see this in any newspapers or on television news?
Doesn’t have to make national news. It made youtube, and probably local news, and at worst was witnessed by everyone standing there. Every time we reduce our opponents to foaming nonsense in public at the local level is an aggregate win.
Conversely, anytime any one of us acts like a belligerent idiot in public it *will* make the news and will be used to label all of us.
There is no excuse for a rational adult to deliberately undercut their own position due to an inability to control themselves in public. If you can’t resist yelling angrily, or using profanity, insults, or childish bumper sticker slogans in public, just be a strong, *silent* advocate.
Whenever possible have someone else video tape your interactions.
Be calm, be nice, smile. Be polite and use grand polite gestures (after you, go ahead). Keep Smiling!