An LGBT pro-gun organization that helps queer people fight back against hate crimes is challenging liberals and conservatives alike.

Nicki Stallard isn't your average lady.

She was born a man.

Stallard, who has been living as a woman for the past year and a half, is the coordinator of the San Jose chapter of the Pink Pistols -- a national organization that encourages gay, lesbian and transgender people to arm themselves to prevent hate crimes. Part social gun club, part political platform, the group's slogans are, "Armed gays don't get bashed" and "Pick on someone your own caliber."

Founded in 2000 in Boston by libertarian activist Douglas Krick, the Pink Pistols have since grown to more than 40 chapters across the country.

I just finished reading this on Alternet and came here to see if you had posted it yet.

Hmmmm.  The article certainly challenges my liberal views on guns and gun laws. More so now that I've come to know more and more people who may be treatened by anger towards the GLBT community.

Debbie

I've been tempted to see about forming a PP chapter here in Kansas, but to be honest I'm not a fan of guns in general, so that would be a bit conflicting for me. :3

-- Brede

This is a bad idea in 50 different ways.

Bri

meh, i like it...
*has evil thoughts of a crome slide g19 with pink trigger and mag baseplate and mag release*
mmm barbie aproves...

I think that it is great, providing that you are one who can handle firearms.  if not then it's more of a move along, nothing to see here. Just remember that when you are getting harassed by the cops, you cannot lift a finger even if the police are committing an unlawful arrest (as per the SCOTUS).  On the plus side, defensive shootings are rare because usually the sight of an armed person who was thought to be a victim is enough to run off most of the baddies.

I hate guns, always have.

But, I hate seeing my friends get killed in a hate crime even more.

So, yeah, this is a group whose time has come.

We need to show the public that we will not go quietly.

I have not joined yet, but I will.

I'm just an evil Objectivist, so I value the individual right to self defense.  :3

-- Brede

[rant]This is life... a spieces is prey till it learns to adapt, or evolves through natural selection that only those who can defend themselves survive (granted not the same) but a predator things twice about attacking a prey thats defenseless, or one that bites back...
while i dont advocate shooting anyone who outs you in the street (allthough people would learn to be quiet) its a good idea... And the police dont always comit unlawful arrests, if they arrest you, theres generally a good reason, As a future law enforcement officer within the uk, and from a emergency services family. i can safely say they arnt allowed to discriminate by law, and the majority of issues transgender people have with the police is withholding information, when stopped for example, not just explaining when they have a different ID, or come out with a female or male name when asked which ISNT thier legal name at the time... gotta play the game, but we do have to stand up for rights in the rare occasions when this goes wrong...
I think People LEARNING to defend themselves, weather its self defense classes, armed or unarmed, are good things, education of baddies is one thing, but we too have to learn to take care of ourselves... the system wont always do that, or do it in time... and a common thing that seriously ticks me off, is the constant 'ooh im a LAYDEE, i dont/cant fight/defend myself/be strong, its BS, women can look after themselves, and we have to, or men do take advantage... lets not forget natal females get attacked too... so bottle up the weak femininity and be a strong woman occasionally...
[/rant]

Pink Pistols Raise More Than Just Guns

the above is a blog entry about the article I linked to up at the top.

Excerpt:

QuoteOn this note, Klein references pro-gun Dr. Michael Brown, who correctly points out that if the NRA were to promote the Pink Pistols, the 136-year old organization would alienate much of its conservative base. And, according to Klein, some gay organizations eschew the sissy shooters. She mentions that HRC and PFLAG both declined to comment.

Another article (has pic of Nicole):
Pink Panthers

Pink Pistols Website

I must say I approve.  Of course I'm a life member of the NRA and having a concealed weapons permit has kept me from being mugged (or worse) twice.  One time was my own stupid fault for being somewhere I shouldn't have been at that time of night.  The second time was just an accident of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I didn't have to fire my weapon either time but having it did make the difference. And maybe if she had been armed, one of my best friends, Terrianne, wouldn't have been found face down in her driveway just a few days after participating in the Transgender Day of Remembrance in 2001.

Now Rachael, any idea where I can get some pink parts for a Colt Combat Commander?

Beverly

I was quite excited to see this.  I've thought the "Pink Pistols" were a great organization for a long time, well before I even knew anyone described by any of the letters in GLBT, let alone realized that one of them applied to me.

While most of my peers are excited for their upcoming 21st birthdays because they will be able to drink legally, I'm excited because I'll be able to buy a gun legally.  If only I had lived about 50 years ago, I might have been able to practice with one for years by now.  (Then again, if I had lived 50 years ago, I wouldn't have known what to do with myself as an asexual androgyne, and certainly wouldn't have gotten any support from the world.  Honestly, I wouldn't have wanted to live 50 years ago anyway.  It seems like the world as a whole was so much more formal and socially fake back then.)

Hammers are tools.

Screwdrivers are tools.

Circular saws are tools.

They're all designed to do a specific thing well.  They all can be used to kill animals or people.

A gun is a tool.  It is designed to impart high velocity and thus great force to a small precision rock, and then send it with great accuracy a long distance, thus delivering that great force to whatever might be in the cone of probability that extends from the launcher.

I had to coach marksmanship on active duty, because some unit members were scared of guns.  "They're bad," they'd say.  "They kill people."

I'd say you can kill a person with a circular saw.  Or a car.  Or any other number of items.  A weapon is a tool.

The problem is that it's a tool that's often used to give a person an unfair advantage.

And sometimes it comes down to that person can use their unfair advantage to have their way at the expense of another's life.

I wish we lived in a world where guns were never necessary.

Karen

Quote from: Karen on April 03, 2007, 09:54:00 PM
I'd say you can kill a person with a circular saw.  Or a car.  Or any other number of items.  A weapon is a tool.

Most people forget that the largest (non-terrorist) mass murder ever committed in the US was done with a gallon of gas and a lighter when a guy tried to kill his girlfriend by burning down the place she worked. 

Quote from: Karen
I wish we lived in a world where guns were never necessary.

Amen sister, amen.

Beverly

ebay Bev

i wont pretend i havent got my nickname 'Belladonna' engraved on my g19s slide.