Among the things I’ve learned in the past few days is that it’s best to always start my car with the driver’s door open. That way, if my car’s bombed, my chances of survival increase as I’m blasted out the door, as opposed to smithereens.
Police included that among a long-list of pointers after my life became a little more complicated this week. For the last few days, tens of thousands of fussy gunners have taken exception to a column I wrote three weeks ago comparing the National Rifle Association to a terrorist organization. When the column went viral this weekend via websites that have now labeled me “lib-tard of the week,” my crash course in “Are you freaking kidding me?” began in earnest.
I learned that there are thousands of passionate, thoughtful, civil people all over the country who vehemently disagree with me and are motivated enough to take the time to say so — often very eloquently. Nice to meet you.
I learned that there are tens of thousands of creeps out there who are the firearms equivalent of park bathroom exhibitionists, eager to show me their stuff, talk about my orifices and defend their backyard bunkers with hollow-point bullets when the imminent communist takeover by Obama and company finally unfolds. Y’all worry me.
I’ve learned that many people who disagree with proponents of gun control seem to think that we wet the bed, and they talk a lot about that. I greet each day with dry sheets, dudes, but I have had to wake up snuggling cold pillow drool on more than once occasion, if that’s somehow telling.
I learned that despite a pretty low level of communication skills, people who hate me, and I mean really, really, really hate me, can call the newsroom and string together an extemporaneous, impressive and creative array of threats and obscenities.
I’ve learned that having people growl into the phone that they’re going to “get me,” “take care of me,” “take me out,” “fix me,” “remove me” and use “my pansy ass” for target practice is pretty scary shit. It also makes me angry that, even as hyperbole, it’s all about threats and shooting people.
I’ve learned that there are people as foolish or fed up as I am, willing to stand up to bullies at the NRA and tell them it doesn’t have to be like this. There’s room for the Second Amendment and getting rapid-fire, high-capacity military weapons out of the hands of criminals and everyone else who doesn’t need them.
But more than anything, the last few days have stumped me. I am bewildered by the number of people who are paranoid about the U.S. government coming to enslave them. So many people are convinced that if they were forced to pass background checks at a gun show, or if Congress outlawed a list of guns that act like military assault rifles, that goose steppers would be knocking at their doors demanding papers and their weapons.
Why? These folks often point to Nazi Germany, as if the German people were taken over by their government and — weaponless — were unable to regain control. The scary part about Hitler is that the Germans went willingly. It wasn’t about guns, it was about fear, paranoia, the economy and an unhealthy sense of righteousness, entitlement and patriotism.
I don’t want the government to take the hunting rifles, sharp-shooting guns or even Desert Eagle from people who think they need them for self-protection, sentiment or just an odd sense of fun. I think most gun-control advocates feel the same way. But I don’t believe that the “right to bear arms” is a limitless right to amass what Boston police might describe as weapons of mass destruction.
And I believe now more than ever that the leaders of the NRA do act like terrorists, inciting fear and hate among their members. They threaten elected officials with massive sums of money to oust them if they don’t comply with NRA demands on the House and Senate floors. They inspire members to unleash an unnerving tidal wave of threats, saying that even if 99 percent of Americans agreed that they no longer want military-weapons in the hands of American civilians, that we must “come and take” them. They say this is a “culture war” among freedom-loving patriots and despicable liberal stooges.
If more of us don’t stand up to the NRA, nothing will change. I’ve learned that I may be driving home a different way each night from now on, but I’m not going to shut up.
Reach editor Dave Perry at 303-750-7555 or dperry@aurorasentinel.com
I enjoy your point of view. Too bad that you had to learn to keep your car door open while starting car…..so very scary. Just as scary as the gun advocates who can not control themselves and debate like a rational person.
The man advocated locking up 5 million people in GITMO and you accuse the people who responded of being irrational? What is it with you hypocritical leftist gun-grabbing scumbags?
You are just a big mouthed Communist, sissy that wets the bed (as you confess to doing)lololol
How can you say , nra and terrorist in the same sentence. You are a fool if you think oboma, reid and the like are not the ones insighting fear and dis information.
You work for a news paper, do the research. Give one example of fact that banning or backround checks stop gun crime. I can sight, Chicago, New York. Tough gun laws high crime rate. You are so wrong….
Must be hard to think and write wen your head is that far up your a&&
Oh, one more thing. Stop crying,you kicked the dog don’t wine about getting bitten.how about the people getting locked up harassed and threatened for posting on thier computers, that show the hypocrisy and incompetents of our gov. Why are you not seeing the terrorism and treason there? I hope you get a t shirt that states. “Unarmed and proud” and ware it all the time.
Hope you learn how to spell and correctly use wear/ware in the future…probably won’t
Are you an English teacher. Who died and left you as the criticizer? Gale got the point across, and you understood it. So go drink some cool aide.
I believe threatening someone with using their ass for target practice, take them out, ect… qualifies as terroristic threattening by most authorities. To attempt to coerce some type of desired behavior thru terroristic threats would give the label “Terrorist” some credibility. Sorry, but if the shoe fits, you need to own it and wear it. It’s amazing that in trying to make the case against gun control, it never fails that you seriously make the case for gun control even stronger thru these stupid and often illegal threats. The people that are making these threats are the ones with the guns. Good chance they wouldn’t pass a background check, or go on a shooting spree for “the cause”.
It was so nice of the NRA goose-steppers to prove you absolutely correct!
Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Turkey, Uganda, Cambodia and even in the United States unthinkable atrocities occurred after governments disarmed their citizens. We fear the government because we have studied history. Why do you think this time is different? Do you think the hate mail is because they are nothing but mouth breathing morons or because you encourage the destruction of their freedoms? Yes, I fear the government, but I fear your ignorance even more. It is ignorant fools like you who have encouraged the destruction of our liberties.
The people threatening the author are actually anti-American!
You read that right, pro-death conservative gun crazies. You’re ANTI-AMERICAN!
Freedom of speech and the press is the FIRST AMENDMENT. The SECOND amendment doesn’t give anyone the right to suppress the first by threat or coercion. The fact that you’re allowed to disagree with the author and say it publicly is protected under law. Making death threats is ILLEGAL and goes against the very principles of using the Second Amendment rights to defend the First.
Oh, and I question the ability to even understand EITHER amendment’s meaning of anyone who can’t even spell the current president’s NAME.
You mean people speaking their minds is not freedom of speech and not covered by the first amendment?
Speaking your mind is “I think the world would be better off if you and people like you were dead.” Not covered by the first amendment would be “I’m going to kill you and everyone like you.” One is free speech, the other is an illegal threat, particularly if you are threatening death in person, while holding a weapon of some sort. Not all speech is protected by “free speech”, and not all personal armaments are protected by a “right to bear arms”.
Thanks, Gayle, for demonstrating what this author is commenting upon.
Kicked the dog? Bitten? Many of the actions taken by the aforementioned NRA supporters aren’t just responses to being riled up, but are in fact threats to someone’s well being. They are legally able to be put under such categories as harassment, and in situations where a life is credibly threatened constitute a felony. Credible threats to one’s property are typically a misdemeanor. In short, why is the author whining (to “wine”, as you put it, would be drinking vino, as in wine and dine)? It would be because proponents of a particular opinion are responding to an article in a newspaper by breaking the law, in a matter which is personally threatening.
I must admit, the idea that avid gun owners would be unhinged as to react this way to a simple news article makes me far less likely to support their “right” to be armed to the teeth.
If this kind of reaction is supported by the NRA, I would have to agree with using their name and terrorist in the same sentence, as there seems to be a concerted effort to strike fear into into a particular group of people for a defined policy goal, which is a pretty good definition of terrorism.
*Manner, not matter
But you are cool with advocating that 5 million people, myself included, be rounded up and sent to GITMO with no due process because they belong to an organization that advocates for the retention of an explicitly guaranteed constitutional right? That’s not terroristic to you?
The Germans followed Hitler willingly just like the people of Boston gave up their 4th amendment rights at the point of a government gun. When you say 5 million people should be sent to the gulag for thier beliefs, who is really the creepy bully? I personally wish you no ill, I just wish you could see how totalitarian your viewpoint really is.
This editorial piece was a little more coherent than your last one. Why were you suprised by the responses you got ? You advocated that all NRA members be rounded up and incarcerated in Gitmo. You were serious, you said so. Why else would we compare you to a Nazi. Next time you rant do it while sober and don’t post it online.
In the author’s last editorial he stated that in order to keep guns out of the hands of crazies we should submit to expanded background checks. I disagree. Instead we should bolster our mental healthcare to find these unstable people and institutionalize them. It is more humane than the violence that results from non action. Jared Laughner , James Holmes and Adam Lanza are all insane. Surely we can agree on this. These three shootings are a mental healthcare issue, not a gun issue. The mental healthcare industry has been gutted by D’s and R’s for the last 30 years . Let’s agree to fix this broken system and stop attacking the Bill of Rights.
Well stated. Unfortunately, expanding goverment isn’t going to happen with the current brand of right wing we’re seeing lately, and we both know that mental health screening for everyone in the united states is cost prohibitive. Remember, no taxes. Maybe we could dismantle our war machine and use the military savings to pay for it? Remember, we’re fighting against “Terror”. When individual rights cause a general population safety issue then which need is greater? The right to a high capacity magazine or the right to stay alive. The shooters were insane, I’ll give you that. But we can’t identify them before a shooting.
What a pity that being a member of an lawful organization gets a person labeled as a terrorist by a man who buys ink by the barrel. Using Mr. Perry’s logic Planned Parenthood and any prochoice activist are murderers (50 million abortions and counting). Go read articles about Dr. Gosnel for a lesson in out of control abortions. See the lesson? Succumbing to a dictatorial position makes you no better than the people you accuse.
Mr Perry – you seriously proposed that I be arrested, deported and imprisoned without due process merely because of my membership in an organization. Now you are crying about receiving threats from others. I cannot sympathize with you, although I condemn those who threaten you. I called you a fascist, because what you proposed is typical of fascism. You should expect opprobrium as an adherent of fascism.
I know what you mean, Dave. I posted what I thought were pretty noncontroversial posts on Twitter about background checks during the state legislative debates and while I got some messages and dm’s from some rational gun advocates (thank you, if you were one of them), many were scary and/or just unacceptable for civilized discussion. Bullies, really.
You’re the one trying to strip us of our rights, and you have the gall to call US bullies? Amazing.
As a pre-Watergate graduate of journalism school, I glumly observe the declining standards of today’s news outlets (I will not use the word journalism), and you are one shining example.
Dave:
Did you read your own article? In your post script, you said you
were “comparing the National Rifle Association to a terrorist
organization.”
No sir, you did not compare anything. Read your own article. You
wrote, “I’m talking about the real terrorist threat here in America: the
National Rifle Association.” The real terrorist threat? As opposed
to ….what? al-Qaeda? Islamic jihad? Your ignorance knows no bounds.
We can only shake our heads in bewilderment at your confused, rambling attack on those you disagree with.
As my post script, it’s a GREAT IDEA for you to always start your car with the driver’s door open. That way, it will be easier for the carjacker to get the drop on you – and you’ll have to rely on an NRA member (who might also be a cop) to save your sorry a$$.
This editor is advocating the incarceration of 5 million law abiding citizens in a foreign land, because he does not agree with their views. This person should be fired.
“The scary part about Hitler is that the Germans went willingly. It wasn’t about guns, it was about fear, paranoia, the economy and an unhealthy sense of righteousness, entitlement and patriotism.” You know, if you put “faux” in front of “patriotism”, Komrade Perry just described exactly what the democRAT party has been doing for the last half-century. Scary, huh?
You don’t remember when “Nobody wanted to take your Long Guns, Just your ‘Saturday Night Specials'” do you? It was because: “Nobody needs one of those”. Same Arguments, Different gun…. All the Gun-Banners want is ALL of them – One at a time, whichever ones they can get at the moment. Those of us who have been around long enough know that. And it has nothing to do with what the NRA says. We’ve SEEN it.
And the whole “rapid-fire, high-capacity military weapons” argument is NONSENSE. A bolt action .30-06 Deer Rife is FAR more powerful and dangerous than an AR-15. AR’s aren’t even considered powerful enough for Deer Hunting in most states. Face it – You want to ban it because of it’s appearance.
Frankly, I think your words are more dangerous than my AR, and until you are ready to put up with infringement of your 1st Amendment Rights to spread hate and fear, don’t ask me to put up with infringement of my 2nd Amendment Rights.
People who make online threats are ignorant, probably in more ways than one. Perry has the right to make a fool of himself, if just to prove his readership. Don’t be as stupid as Perry!
and I have learned that people use events to take away my rights. I had nothing to do with Aurora and I had nothing to do with Newtown and I refuse to allow you or anyone else to attack me for something I had nothing to do with. and I will never stop resisting your oppression.
PS. and my life is nothing like your cartoon!!!!
you attack and belittle citizens who had nothing to do with Aurora, or Newtown, and you want them to give up their rights for your ideas and you call them terrorists? why do you not look at increased prison time for those that use guns to commit crimes? could it be that you only hate anyone that disagrees with you? after all you do write your opinions and you do write opinions that suggest your somehow better than the rest of US.
Dave, In your column you called for imprisoning those who disagree with you! And then you got a nationwide audience and your 15 seconds of fame. Now much of the rest of the US knows what we in Aurora have known for years. That you are yourself a “despicable liberal stooge” and that you combine the two main characteristics of liberalism: foolishness and thuggery.
For those who wish to organize politically to oppose both foolishness and thuggery.
nra.org
gunowners.org
You are my hero, Dave Perry. Thank you for saying what millions and millions and millions of people world-wide are thinking. These nuts need to BACK OFF.
It’s a shame that no one, and I mean no one, can make comments that support gun safety without being attacked personally. The use of threats, name
calling and threats will not help anyone’s cause. Get a grip people ! ! ! !
So many crazies in the world. It’s very scary. Why do these people feel they have a right to have assault weapons. And why do they think it’s okay to threaten those who don’t agree with them? And why should Mr. Perry have to fear being maimed or killed for disagreeing? A very sad and dangerous world.
I admire you, Sir.
Well golly. After the last 2 weeks, is there anyone out there that is not afraid the government is coming after them? IRS is topper, with Benghazi, Fast and Furious, and whole criminal system going bonkers. Never saw so many high level, highly paid cabinet officers who don’t know about stuff, until they read it in the papers. And since digital cameras came into being, I live with not believing anything I read or see, unless I can verify it from many sources. Television is 24/7/165 gossip, and chewing over stuff on the net the day before. Bloggers usually have better and more accurate info then the printed media or television talking heads.