Pink Pistols - Great article

Pink Pistols - Great article today on the growing gay pro-gun movement.

Doug Krick, a bisexual Internet engineer from Boston who once ran for office as a Libertarian, started the Pink Pistols in July 2000.

The club has no dues or registration rolls, but about 35 chapters have sprung up across the country, with a few thousand members who gather to target shoot and have dinner.

Krick, an avid sportsman, envisioned the group as a social club, but it's taken on a political agenda.

Members have lobbied against gun-control laws and even attacked an openly gay Massachusetts legislator who, like many gay civil rights groups, supports gun control. Others have vocally opposed hate-crime legislation, in keeping with their less-is-more philosophy of government.

Several of my gay friends are sympathizers; like a few female rape victims I know, they'd prefer to carry an illegal gun than go through another assault.

But there's more to the Pink Pistols than that:

Some lawmakers who support gun-control measures, including Democratic Assemblyman Paul Koretz of California, have called the Pink Pistols a tool of the National Rifle Association. But Krick and other members actually fault the NRA for accepting compromise gun-control legislation.

They're one of several groups that cater to specific groups of gun enthusiasts, such as Geeks with Guns and Jews for the Preservation of Gun Ownership.

About a third of Pink Pistol members are heterosexual, including Brian Hepler, who took over the Northern Virginia chapter when a bisexual friend stepped down.

He likes the idea that the club tweaks several stereotypes — that gun owners are mostly Christian right-wingers and that gays are victims.

"The idea is to try to show both stereotypes are wrong," said Hepler, who lives in Fairfax.

The article - and the Pistols' website - are both worth a read.

Posted by Mitch at January 16, 2003 10:26 PM