This was the press conference that was set up by Gerry Anderson's http://www.azgs.org/
It was 11:30am so I went to the anti-gunner "Assault Weapon" whine-fest at the Capitol yesterday in downtown Phoenix. The folks were already assembled and plugging in mic wires from their mini podium underneath the shade of some trees just east of the Commons. I was about 75 yards away as I strolled up carrying a sign and my "Tommy FAL-Figer" T-shirt with the Tommy Hilfiger colors and the black image of an FN-FAL. My sign, which I would shortly display was the same one I used at the Bush rally "SUNSET THE BAN" with a pic of a scoped AR 15.
You can see the sign here...
http://www.glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=275139&highlight=McCain
Already there were about a dozen anti-gunners (I counted those who would later applaud at all the right times). There were three TV cameras, three print journalists and perhaps two radio journalists present. I announced, "I'm here with an opposing view, if you care to interview me afterward."
To my delight, there was the ever-present gunnie/political dude, Gary Christensen and a new (to me) member of azrkba (he said he's a lurker), Mike.
The prepared speeches began. With that, I noticed that if I placed myself behind the anti-gunners assembled behind the podium, my sign would likely make the TV news. I placed my sign above everybody's head to the astonishment of the antis. One guy tried to put his hand in front of mine but since he wasn't looking back, someone had to tell him that I had moved my sign to the other side. Then someone gave him a sign big enough to block mine, but his problem remained. I simply walked a few paces to his right and found another gap.
There, one of the supporters, in the middle of his buddy's speech, asked me, "Why do you need an assault weapon?" I suggested to him that the AWB didn't ban anything so the whole thing was kind of moot. He looked at me blankly. After a few seconds I asked him if he had any other questions for me. He didn't respond, but a big body-guard type (I have seen him at other Gerry Anderson affairs) said I should be quiet so others could hear. I told him that I was just answering his comrade's question, but that didn't seem to matter to the poor guy. I moved to his left and held up my sign again.
At this point, the body-guard brushed against my right side and then back side in some sort of clumsy attempt to frisk me. I was going to mention to him that I was left-handed but I got distracted with another photo opportunity. I flipped my sign around and displayed the "BUSH-CHENEY" side of the sign. Wow, that created quite a murmur, and the body guard looked over and said, "Sheesh!!" Telling, especially since Gerry always takes great pains to say that she is a Republican.
I walked over to the far right of the cabal to get another camera angle. I picked up my sign and the antis there, which included Gerry who had already moved from the first spot I took, scurried away, likely afraid to get photographed standing in front of my message.
One of the organizers, Donna Neal(?), of NOML(?), or soemthing like that turned and said, "That's rude." I responded, "That' politics." She was peeved and told me that she couldn't believe that my mother raised me like that. I informed her that "My mother is a fighter, too."
Some of the speakers were not on-message. They don't like to come out and say what they really want (a total ban), but they just couldn't help it. Of the five or six speakers, three of them said they wanted a ban of all firearms (hey, I thought this was about the AWB?). This included the event's star, a quadraplegic woman in a Christopher Reed-type ventilator who said her husband hired two people to shoot and stab her (yes, I know, I know).
Soon, Gerry Anderson, herself, all 4'11", 220 pounds of her (rough estimate) took the podium. The tension in her voice was high. She began barking out her speech like the recent version of Al Gore (not her typical style, yeah, there's always a bit of condescension and meanness with Gerry, but this had some spice to it).
At this point, heck, maybe it was the hypoglycemia, I was gettin' a little punchy. Gerry (and frankly, all the rest) were blowing so much BS out of their mouths that I wouldn't have been able to keep up, heckle-wise. I thought the next time this happens I would arrive with flip-cards that said, "NO" on one side and "BS" on the other. But even then, my arms would have gotten might tired.
"These are the same weapons that are being used in Iraq."
"Nobody uses these guns to hunt."
"We don't want to restrict anyone's rights."
"Assault Weapon crime has gone down 66% in ten years"
"These guns will be back on the streets."
However, there was one small, partial concession to the truth that day. Gerry mentioned her brother, Adam Hills, a Rochester, Michigan police officer again: "Killed by an AK-47." A couple of sentences later, (the narcissist in me almost thinks she glanced over toward me), she said, "My brother was not killed in the line of duty..."
HUH?!!? I've never heard her make that statement before. Then she went on to say that he was killed by a hunter who was carrying an AK-47 instead of a hunting rifle.
Well, now we know that Gerry has a lurker on this list. For, just a few weeks ago, I wrote about the story I got when I did several google searches trying to track this down. I got links to stories about Michigan hunting guides fighting (even getting into shoot-outs) over deer bait piles and other territory issues. I was able to find out about the Rochester PD connection and found their phone number. I gave a call and was turned over to someone who was familiar with the case. He said, "It was a Chinese SKS...just another huntin' rifle as far as we're concerned" He went on to say that the killer was a hunting guide who had a major grudge against the particular guide that Jerry's brother had the misfortune of hiring. Adam Hills was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
So, after the prepared speeches, Howie of Capitol News Service (you may have seen him on Channel 8's Horizon), asked Donna to step up to the mic to answer questions. His line of questions was essentially, 1) What laws do you want? and 2) Given the make up of the Arizona legislature, how in the world are you going to get that?
During one question, Gary shook his head "no" which Donna saw and had to remark, "He's nodding no, but the answer is yes." With that, it was as if she gave us an invitation, and frankly, I was gettin' a little bored. So we started commenting to the questions as well. Gary said, "You're getting paid to be here. I'm here on my own time." Then Mike said, "I'm here on my lunch hour." Then, after a pause, I said, "I got lost in traffic." Even the antis had to laugh at that.
We continued in that manner for a while until the antis dispersed. At that point, the mics turned to Gary and he began the interview. Feeling left out, I muscled my way into the cluster and engaged in the debate. One of Gary's quotes made the papers and an AP story, I believe, "I haven't seen any drive-by bayonettings..." None of mine did, but I wasn't there for sound bites, I wanted to debate.
My co-worker did say that she saw my sign on TV last night. The camera was panning the antis when my sign just popped up in full view. She didn't see me, just my sign.
Notice that all of the stories on TV, radio news breaks, and newspapers were written from the perspective of the antis. "Gun control groups decry the end of the AW ban." Not one said, "Gun rights activists go yahoo!!!"
Oh, well, we stole a few seconds of video and got a sentence or two out of four column-inches. Not bad for an hour's work.
Rick
It was 11:30am so I went to the anti-gunner "Assault Weapon" whine-fest at the Capitol yesterday in downtown Phoenix. The folks were already assembled and plugging in mic wires from their mini podium underneath the shade of some trees just east of the Commons. I was about 75 yards away as I strolled up carrying a sign and my "Tommy FAL-Figer" T-shirt with the Tommy Hilfiger colors and the black image of an FN-FAL. My sign, which I would shortly display was the same one I used at the Bush rally "SUNSET THE BAN" with a pic of a scoped AR 15.
You can see the sign here...
http://www.glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=275139&highlight=McCain
Already there were about a dozen anti-gunners (I counted those who would later applaud at all the right times). There were three TV cameras, three print journalists and perhaps two radio journalists present. I announced, "I'm here with an opposing view, if you care to interview me afterward."
To my delight, there was the ever-present gunnie/political dude, Gary Christensen and a new (to me) member of azrkba (he said he's a lurker), Mike.
The prepared speeches began. With that, I noticed that if I placed myself behind the anti-gunners assembled behind the podium, my sign would likely make the TV news. I placed my sign above everybody's head to the astonishment of the antis. One guy tried to put his hand in front of mine but since he wasn't looking back, someone had to tell him that I had moved my sign to the other side. Then someone gave him a sign big enough to block mine, but his problem remained. I simply walked a few paces to his right and found another gap.
There, one of the supporters, in the middle of his buddy's speech, asked me, "Why do you need an assault weapon?" I suggested to him that the AWB didn't ban anything so the whole thing was kind of moot. He looked at me blankly. After a few seconds I asked him if he had any other questions for me. He didn't respond, but a big body-guard type (I have seen him at other Gerry Anderson affairs) said I should be quiet so others could hear. I told him that I was just answering his comrade's question, but that didn't seem to matter to the poor guy. I moved to his left and held up my sign again.
At this point, the body-guard brushed against my right side and then back side in some sort of clumsy attempt to frisk me. I was going to mention to him that I was left-handed but I got distracted with another photo opportunity. I flipped my sign around and displayed the "BUSH-CHENEY" side of the sign. Wow, that created quite a murmur, and the body guard looked over and said, "Sheesh!!" Telling, especially since Gerry always takes great pains to say that she is a Republican.
I walked over to the far right of the cabal to get another camera angle. I picked up my sign and the antis there, which included Gerry who had already moved from the first spot I took, scurried away, likely afraid to get photographed standing in front of my message.
One of the organizers, Donna Neal(?), of NOML(?), or soemthing like that turned and said, "That's rude." I responded, "That' politics." She was peeved and told me that she couldn't believe that my mother raised me like that. I informed her that "My mother is a fighter, too."
Some of the speakers were not on-message. They don't like to come out and say what they really want (a total ban), but they just couldn't help it. Of the five or six speakers, three of them said they wanted a ban of all firearms (hey, I thought this was about the AWB?). This included the event's star, a quadraplegic woman in a Christopher Reed-type ventilator who said her husband hired two people to shoot and stab her (yes, I know, I know).
Soon, Gerry Anderson, herself, all 4'11", 220 pounds of her (rough estimate) took the podium. The tension in her voice was high. She began barking out her speech like the recent version of Al Gore (not her typical style, yeah, there's always a bit of condescension and meanness with Gerry, but this had some spice to it).
At this point, heck, maybe it was the hypoglycemia, I was gettin' a little punchy. Gerry (and frankly, all the rest) were blowing so much BS out of their mouths that I wouldn't have been able to keep up, heckle-wise. I thought the next time this happens I would arrive with flip-cards that said, "NO" on one side and "BS" on the other. But even then, my arms would have gotten might tired.
"These are the same weapons that are being used in Iraq."
"Nobody uses these guns to hunt."
"We don't want to restrict anyone's rights."
"Assault Weapon crime has gone down 66% in ten years"
"These guns will be back on the streets."
However, there was one small, partial concession to the truth that day. Gerry mentioned her brother, Adam Hills, a Rochester, Michigan police officer again: "Killed by an AK-47." A couple of sentences later, (the narcissist in me almost thinks she glanced over toward me), she said, "My brother was not killed in the line of duty..."
HUH?!!? I've never heard her make that statement before. Then she went on to say that he was killed by a hunter who was carrying an AK-47 instead of a hunting rifle.
Well, now we know that Gerry has a lurker on this list. For, just a few weeks ago, I wrote about the story I got when I did several google searches trying to track this down. I got links to stories about Michigan hunting guides fighting (even getting into shoot-outs) over deer bait piles and other territory issues. I was able to find out about the Rochester PD connection and found their phone number. I gave a call and was turned over to someone who was familiar with the case. He said, "It was a Chinese SKS...just another huntin' rifle as far as we're concerned" He went on to say that the killer was a hunting guide who had a major grudge against the particular guide that Jerry's brother had the misfortune of hiring. Adam Hills was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
So, after the prepared speeches, Howie of Capitol News Service (you may have seen him on Channel 8's Horizon), asked Donna to step up to the mic to answer questions. His line of questions was essentially, 1) What laws do you want? and 2) Given the make up of the Arizona legislature, how in the world are you going to get that?
During one question, Gary shook his head "no" which Donna saw and had to remark, "He's nodding no, but the answer is yes." With that, it was as if she gave us an invitation, and frankly, I was gettin' a little bored. So we started commenting to the questions as well. Gary said, "You're getting paid to be here. I'm here on my own time." Then Mike said, "I'm here on my lunch hour." Then, after a pause, I said, "I got lost in traffic." Even the antis had to laugh at that.
We continued in that manner for a while until the antis dispersed. At that point, the mics turned to Gary and he began the interview. Feeling left out, I muscled my way into the cluster and engaged in the debate. One of Gary's quotes made the papers and an AP story, I believe, "I haven't seen any drive-by bayonettings..." None of mine did, but I wasn't there for sound bites, I wanted to debate.
My co-worker did say that she saw my sign on TV last night. The camera was panning the antis when my sign just popped up in full view. She didn't see me, just my sign.
Notice that all of the stories on TV, radio news breaks, and newspapers were written from the perspective of the antis. "Gun control groups decry the end of the AW ban." Not one said, "Gun rights activists go yahoo!!!"
Oh, well, we stole a few seconds of video and got a sentence or two out of four column-inches. Not bad for an hour's work.
Rick