What would happen if people protested outside of gun stores?

[Orrex]

You know, the way that people protest outside of women's health centers?

Nothing violent, of course. We'd simply stand there holding signs with with graphic photos of gunshot victims while shouting in the faces of... I mean while educating would-be gun purchasers.


Has this been attempted on any significant scale? What might be the impact?

[peace13]

1. I don't even stand at peace vigils anymore.

The gun nuts are not to be trusted.

[Lurker Deluxe]

2. Considering

Well ... considering you can buy a gun damn near everywhere I would think it would just lead to the loss of business for a particular store and people would just drive somewhere else to avoid the protesters. There are not enough numbers of people willing to do something like this to effect more that a couple of location in any one place.

To many places to buy guns, no where near enough people to protest.

[scscholar]

5. And Bill Clinton put over half of them out of business!

"To many places to buy gun"

I think you mean too many places rather than going to a many places. Otherwise, you're making no sense. Clinton fought hard to shutdown as many of those business as possible. He did that for us.

[Exilednight]

69. Yet I temporarily live in Houston and see one every 4 blocks.

[Amishman]

3. people have tried protesting in front of gun shows before, they get mocked or ignored

Last edited Tue Jun 21, 2016, 01:51 PM - Edit history (1)

the divide is a cultural/values one, not a matter of education.

The only thing that might change is the protesters further convince the gun crowd that people want to take their guns away.

[Just reading posts]

4. The protests I've seen typically had numbers in single digits.

[jmg257]

6. Probably inspire potential customers to spend even more on guns and ammo. nt

[hack89]

7. Gun buyers would laugh at you as they walked in.

that would be my guess.

[TeddyR]

8. There were a few protesters outside a gun store

That recently opened in my neighborhood, but there were more pro-gun types. I suspect that you wouldn't accomplish much other than to drum up support for the store. Here's a link to the local store story - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/gun-store-opens-in-arlington-county-to-strong-support-and-business/2016/03/26/cb47162c-f1cc-11e5-a61f-e9c95c06edca_story.html

[Hoyt]

28. Looked up Dennis Pratte's gun store opening. EXACTLY AS EXPECTED, nothing but white folks

arming up in 20+ photos. Such gun profiteers turn my stomach.

[friendly_iconoclast]

43. "(N)othing but white folks" IOW, just like your photo collection.

Where's the problem?

[Just reading posts]

47. And the problem with a bunch of "white folks" buying guns is....what, exactly?

Are there any other ethnic groups it bothers you to see exercise their right to keep and bear arms?

[Hoyt]

51. Racists arming up, the way it's always been with gunners, especially toters.

Last edited Wed Jun 22, 2016, 12:55 AM - Edit history (1)

[Just reading posts]

54. The people buying guns in that WaPo story are racists? Really? Could you document that, please?

After all, a racist is one of the lowest scum on Earth. You wouldn't make that sort of charge without evidence, would you?

[Hoyt]

56. Plenty of evidence, known a lot of gunners. Go to any gun store, gun show or range and

look around. Tell me what you see. How about the main spokes organization and the board elected by the membership. Look at the list.

Here's a favorite NBA board member:

[Just reading posts]

57. I go to guns stores, gun shows, and ranges all the time. If the people there are racists,

they hide it pretty well....as I haven't seen any evidence of it.

But back to your assertion. You said the the people shown buying guns in that WaPo article were racists.

Link or sink.

[Hoyt]

58. If they are arming up, the majority will be racists.

Google "gun ownership racism" and you'll get a bunch of hits. Here's top one:

http://www.salon.com/2013/11/05/study_white_racism_linked_with_opposition_to_gun_control_partner/

[Just reading posts]

60. That is a completly unsupported assertion.

Google "gun ownership racism" and you'll get a bunch of hits.

I just did. Got 261,000 hits. Man, that's a lot of hits! Say....I have an idea. Let's Google "liberal racism".

Huh. 21 million hits. Which shows exactly how silly this "proof" is.

Do you still stand by this method of proving gun owners are racists?

[Hoyt]

61. Do you have any evidence all those white folks at gun stores/shows

aren't racist. Gun stores don't have confederate flags and pistol grips because they don't attract customers. Other than a Klan rally and a segregated community, there is nothing more racist than most gun stores and shows, nowadays. Pretty clear, and confirmed by studies even if you refuse to read them.

[Just reading posts]

63. You made the assertion, not me. It's up to you to support it.

You haven't done so.



By the way, you didn't answer my question.

Google "gun ownership racism" and you'll get a bunch of hits.

I just did. Got 261,000 hits. Man, that's a lot of hits! Say....I have an idea. Let's Google "liberal racism".

Huh. 21 million hits. Which shows exactly how silly this "proof" is.

Do you still stand by this method of proving gun owners are racists?

[hack89]

72. All gun owners are racists to Hoyt. nt

[TipTok]

65. Congrats on making it through a gun post...

... without talking about genitals.

You were still racist but it's a start...

Journery of a thousand miles begins with one step and all that...

[Hoyt]

66. I think the "compensating" part is just a given, even gun marketers exploit it successfully.

How rifle used at Sandy Hook is marketed:

[TipTok]

75. Gosh... demographic marketing...

I am shocked... shocked I tell you...

Find me a fainting couch while I clutch my pearls...

Next you'll tell me that they use attractive women to entice men to purchase their product...

[Jerry442]

78. Wouldn't a Fleshlight be way more comfortable?

[TeddyR]

67. You didn't do much "looking up"

Or you would have realized that your "nothing but white folks" jab is wrong. https://www.facebook.com/novaarmory/photos/a.901813503271901.1073741830.892968457489739/925462527573665/?type=3&theater

You tend to make an awful lot of unsupported and usually downright wrong accusations when it comes to gun control.

[Hoyt]

68. LMAO. Apparently those two guys were asked to leave or just got out of there because there is not

another ethnic group represented on that entire page other than white wingers including the "friends of the NRA" promotions and all the GOP supporter signs. That's what guns in America represent.

[TeddyR]

70. Got it

So now that you've been proven wrong you make additional unsupported and not-quite-racist assertions.

[Hoyt]

71. Not been proven wrong. That gun store, like most, caters to white wingers, GOPers and NRA yahoos.

[onehandle]

9. It will come to that and be widely practiced. Enablers of terrorism will fall. nt

[former9thward]

31. When are you going to start?

[Orrex]

10. Well, I have to say that the answers so far have been disappointing...

Not incorrect, I grant, but all the more disappointing because they're probably 100% accurate.

[Just reading posts]

14. Support for gun control is frequently described as "a mile wide and a foot deep".

Those who are passionate about gun rights far outnumber those who feel strongly that we need more gun control. Oh, you can get 80 to 90 percent of people in a poll to say they want stringer background checks....but how many of then vote based on that issue?

There are probably a hundred pro-gun rights websites and blogs (no exaggeration) for each one pushing gun control. The efforts of a few aside, there simply isn't a large mass of pro-gun control activists to counter the millions who put gun rights at the top of their political agenda.

[leeroysphitz]

11. I'm in. Good idea. n/t

[REP]

12. Women going into clinics are unarmed and not at their best.

People going into gun stores are often armed (if the shop has a range, as many do, one must bring in their own properly transported gun as a way to cut down on suicides; the logic being that if you already have a gun, you probably won't rent a pistol to commit suicide at the range).

Some, even many, depending upon where you are, will actually agree about the need for better gun control (background checks, waiting periods, etc).

Pretty much, though, most of them won't be having one of the more unpleasant days of their lives and protesters won't be making it worse. I'm not sure following the antiabortnoid playbook is a great idea; after all, they think killing to show how precious life is is a swell idea. Stalking and threatening people known to be armed may not have the intended consequences.

[maxsolomon]

13. Stalking and threatening are against the law

The OP isn't proposing do that to store owners.

I think protesting outside gun stores sounds like a good idea. Moms Against Gun Violence blocking the sidewalk all day long - and targeting the stores that sold Amoklauf killers their weapons or ammo. I like it.

[friendly_iconoclast]

15. Would that include proposing to "snuff someone out"?

[maxsolomon]

17. the OP didn't propose that

I didn't propose that. So would what include that?

I don't endorse death threats. You could say you want to snuff their business out, I suppose, but even that rhetoric is irresponsible. RTL Fanatics say that shit all the time, and they get bills introduced in statehouses across the nation every year.

[REP]

19. Bills didn't save Dr Tiller

[REP]

18. Using antiabortnoid strategies was specifically mentioned

And stalking, harassing, bombing and killing being illegal hasn't exactly stopped those fucking terrorists.

I suggest not being like one group of terrorists in pursuit of ... what exactly I'm not sure, but those tactics are not going to win hearts and minds.

[Straw Man]

21. Blocking sidewalks is.

Moms Against Gun Violence blocking the sidewalk all day long - and targeting the stores that sold Amoklauf killers their weapons or ammo. I like it.

If you block people from entering their place of business, they will have you arrested. They would be perfectly within their rights to do so.

Are you willing to go to jail to make your point? And what is your point? If the sales were legal, these gun-sellers were no more culpable than anyone else who sells a gun legally in America.

[maxsolomon]

73. abortion is legal too. or it was.

ok, the protests should "clog" the sidewalk. happy?

[Straw Man]

74. As it should be.

abortion is legal too.

Where did I ever advocate blocking the sidewalks at abortion clinics? I'm not your Straw Man.

[Lee-Lee]

16. Protests at the NRA convention couldn't even gather more than a few dozen people

Most people just don't care enough about it.

[Eleanors38]

20. An honest look at the tactic of gun store demos must include...

the current distaste for ANY kind of public demonstration for ANY cause. There is a huge militant apathy afoot in the country; where activism is seen as "not with it," or a "throwback to the 60s.". Frankly, most demonstrations just aren't hep. Then there is that notion of "public." Isn't the innertube where great things happen ( hopefully, with phat layers of security)? I mean, who wants to get (variously) embarrassed, asked to see the Dean, talked to by the boss, get hate mail, hate email, frowned at by a potential mate, get the heart break of psoriasis, show my muffin tops, by being in public?

I mean, where are the demonstrators to protect a woman's right to choose?

[Marengo]

22. Such protests would likely be largely ignored by patrons...

I certainly would ignore it.

[aikoaiko]

23. What exactly would you be protesting?

The lawful sale of firearms?

[Hoyt]

29. Protesting gun profiteers playing to white wingers' fears. Not much different than protesting Exon,

Goldman Sachs, or the Klan.

[deaniac21]

24. Doesn't seem to be a good idea.

No telling what that crowd might do.

[Lurks Often]

25. It would probably increase their sales

Those in favor of gun control have been insulting and mocking gun owners for DECADES, you really think a half dozen people protesting outside of a gun store is going to change anything?

[Hoyt]

26. You'd get yelled at by the white wingers that are the vast majority of gun nuts. Screw em.

[Crunchy Frog]

27. I would shudder to think.

[Kang Colby]

30. You'd get laughed at.

It happens, and usually the gun shop responds by having a big sales event to celebrate the occasion. Jessie Jackson protested a gun shop once in P.G. county Maryland. It just drove up sales.

[Gabi Hayes]

32. speaking of which, good thing all those crazy, delusional civil rights protestors decided

to quit trying to eat lunch at all those whites only counters. they were treated well, weren't they?

one must start somewhere?

and what was it ghandi said, in reference to a post a little bit previous to this?

[Kang Colby]

33. Apples and oranges.

In this case, the gun shop owners and customers are the folks advocating for protection and expansion of civil liberties.

[Gabi Hayes]

35. except for the life thingy. and maybe the liberty and pursuit of happiness. kinda

hard to pursue them when, you're, oh, I don't know....DEAD

and that's quite the NRA meme, trotting out the hoary old civlib cliché. can't you do any better than that?

so you're in favor of Hobby Lobby, too, I'll be guessing.

if not, try taking a logic course. look up syllogisms for starters

[Kang Colby]

36. That's a rude response.

I'm a life long Democrat, and no, I do not agree with Hobby Lobby. Gun rights are civil rights.

[Gabi Hayes]

40. I apologize for that, but you do see the logical inconsistency between your statement and the

fact that you oppose the Hobby Lobby decision.

I'm a lifelong anarcho-syndicalist, FWIW

[ileus]

38. Rigth to life is the reason I'm a 2A progressive.

[Just reading posts]

46. +1

[lancer78]

39. how is someone

Having a rifle threatening your right to life, liberty, and happiness when you are 20 times more likely to have those rights violated when you get into your car tomorrow?

[Gabi Hayes]

41. nice try. take that argument somewhere else

mass murder by automobile?

are you fricking serious with that?

or am I missing something?

I knew I shouldn't get started with this.....

btw, I've fired all manner of machine guns, sniper's rifles, etc....I'll name them, if you like....and at one of the two places they should EVER be shown with live rounds, not in, say, schools, or bars, or congressperson's speeches, or movie theaters, or churches, or restaurants

have a nice, happy, peaceful pursuit of illogic, my democratic friend

peace out

[ileus]

34. Nothing.....parking would be a hassle at some LGS

I know if I passed buy a shop, I'd be tempted to throw them some business. My favorite shop also carries a bunch of fishing stuff so I'd for sure toss down few bucks in support.

[liberal N proud]

37. Might get shot

[postatomic]

42. You have to start somewhere. I'm all for this

There have been a few protests 'round these parts against Gun Shows. I've been to some of these. Yes, you get the knuckle dragging small penis goons yelling at you. That's not the audience you want. You want the silent gun control advocates to see there are people on their side.

I'd make sure the local media stopped by to cover it if you take on a store.

Since we have a Congress that is too chickenshit to take on the NRA at a time when a large majority of Americans are for gun control - it's time to take it to the streets. Make it less a political issue and more of a people issue.

[DustyJoe]

44. Slim Pickins here

the town close to me about 50k people, there is only one true 'gun store' that only sells guns, ammo, holsters etc. It is heaviliy frequented by law enforcement. Most shoppers go to sporting goods, large dept stores, ranch stores etc. here to buy guns.
Protesting guns where people also buy fishing, camping, excersize equip. etc would probably backfire and probably not result in what the protesters intended. Large cities with many gun only stores could probably get results.

[cherokeeprogressive]

45. Taking the tiny penis show on the road? Cool. Show 'em pics of little dicks then send them inside...

while telling them their bigger dicks are just one more gun away.

As an added bonus, call them bigoted white wingers. Oh and don't forget cowards or precious flowers. Also, make sure someone on the sidewalk gets in their face and calls them terrorist enablers for making legal purchases.

Oughta make for some really good YouTube videos if nothing else.

[Orrex]

48. Those are all great ideas.

Since (mostly) rightwing assholes attempt to block women's Constitutionally-guaranteed reproductive rights using tactics similar to those you suggest, you can no doubt see the effectiveness of such protests at a gun shop.

And you couldn't resist grabbing onto the "little dick" imagery. Well done!

[cherokeeprogressive]

49. All I have to do to get the little dick imagery is close my eyes...

You see, my penis is so diminutive that its size even preceded my arrival here on this planet, and caused my Grandpa, Pop, and Uncles to buy the hunting rifles that are at this moment locked in my gun cabinet. They KNEW I'd need those guns in order to change the perception of my lack of um... endowment, and I hadn't even been born yet. The diminutive penis thing runs in the family I guess. That's an assumption on my part actually, because if I'd ever seen any of their penises, it must have been so traumatic that I've blocked it out.

Wildest thing about this whole situation... my envy causes me to be strangely drawn to gun stores everywhere I go. I'm simply convinced deep down in my soul that one day, I'll find the penis I've been searching for all my life behind one of their doors.

Well, it's either that, or I was trying to help you convince a few famous posters on your thread to get out there and pound the pavement and use their favorite weapon against white wingers; the size of their penises... and it seems that more than a few of them are chompin' at the bit to get out their signs and poster paint and join the fray.

[Orrex]

50. Hey, you don't have to explain your obsessions to me.

[cherokeeprogressive]

52. Oh. Damn. I thought that's what this thread was about. My bad.

[kimbutgar]

53. They'd get shot by some loony gun supporter

[Just reading posts]

55. Since there have already been plenty of protests outside gun stores, you shouldn't have any trouble

linking to story after story of gun supporters shooting protesters at such events.

If you would be so kind.

[DonP]

59. Protest? Nah, mostly too lazy and cheap to bother

The only place gun control has any real "followers" is in online threads like this.

Doesn't cost them anything and you can sound like a real superhero, posting angry shit and cartoons about guns and gun owners. Or pictures of your uncles from the family album and pretend they are really "gunners" instead of close kinfolk.

But spend their own money on gas and actually give up free time in the real world? Aw hell no, none of them can be bothered. Easier to be tough online, where nobody asks you to pay membership dues or stand in the rain with a sign. How many here are ready to use a week of vacation time and drive to the next NRA show to protest on their own dime? Just step right up and raise your hand.

C'mon, the dedicated gun control group on DU only has about 4 active members if that, and a handful of posts in a week, all by the same guy.

Even the NRA show only had a handful of like 20 or 30 protestors, versus 68,000 attendees and Bloomberg had to charter a bus for most of them to even show up. None at the SHOT Show or any of the other major national shows and meetings.

But feel free to suit up, make some signs and go for it, or just keep telling yourself somebody else should do it and stay on the couch. There is absolutely nothing stopping anyone from doing it tomorrow morning or this weekend if you ran out of vacation days.

Just don't trespass or block the sidewalks. Jesse Jackson and Father Pfleger both wound up in the slammer for a couple days for trying to force their way into Chucks Gun Shop a couple of years ago. A few others were arrested and fined for blocking the store and sidewalk. (Hint: Don't get arrested on a Saturday in a small town where the judge who sets baii is out until Monday)

Oh, and they were still outnumbered by gun owners about 9 to 1 and Chuck's had record sales that weekend.

[Just reading posts]

62. I would estimate that those who dedicate significant time and money to gun rights outnumber

those who dedicate significant time and money to gun control by a hundred to one.

At least.

[TipTok]

64. Higher sales for the gun shop...

They'd become the most popular shop in town...

You might be able to swing a percentage from the owner.

[bluedigger]

76. Eventually, a protester would get shot.

It might be worth it, but you have to accept the likelihood of a violent reaction.

[Orrex]

77. I think that you're correct, except...

it might happen sooner than "eventually."

One has to wonder, however, if certain people who advocate so aggressively on behalf of their own granted rights would be as passionate in defending the rights equally granted to others.

I suspect otherwise, alas.

[bluedigger]

79. Depending on the location, it might happen the first day.

After all, all it takes is one "lone wolf" with "psychological issues", to ruin it for all the responsible gun owners...