Wednesday, August 29, 2007

And the Winner is...

George K.

Shoot me an email and I'll make arrangements to get you your cap.

And the losers are Jesse, Snuffy and the Bradys.

How do I figure? With all the foot stomping I've been doing trying to draw attention to this, and considering how many visitors come to this site each day, finding only 86 comments awaiting me this morning (with more coming in as I compose this post), the reality is, only one in 20 of you even bothered to respond--meaning the overwhelming majority, at least in this case, sat out from something so simple and self-beneficial as buying a box of ammo.

That's no way to win a rebellion. What are you sideliners gonna do when necessity presents real demands that you can't avoid against a foe that is purposeful and mean?

That's why the name of our winner is so appropriate. Most gun owners have been content to do little more than gripe, and when it comes to making a contribution or taking an action, adopting the "Let George do it" philosophy.

And spreading the word to gun stores was just pathetic. A few of you got out there and hustled. But most stores were clueless. And in truth,I blame them--their survival depends on knowing the winds and the currents of their trade. It's really their job to inform themselves of happenings affecting their business. In a rational world, they would be leaders and educators of their customers. By insulating themselves, they've pretty much assured they'll stand alone when the wolf appears at their door.

Jeez, we're pretty negative this morning. So why do I say our enemies are the ones who are the losers?

Because they did even worse. We did this with no free publicity from the major media. They had world famous names like Jesse Jackson and Sara Brady prodding their respective constituencies with shrill and desperate urgings. They had church "leaders" and their congregations in the communities they selected to demonstrate in, to get the word out "in the community." They had a budget (tax deductible in many cases), to pay for fliers and buses and press releases and website announcements and billboards and Jesse's hotel suite and airfare for himself and his bodyguards and entourage and child support payments, along with feeding him in the style to which he's accustomed... They saturated newspapers and TV newscasts throughout the land, which announced the upcoming events and sent reporters to cover them when they happened (in some cases, as we shall see). They sent out paid press releases promising "In Communities Across America, Huge Crowds Protest Gun Violence."

And they fell flat on their face in the delivery.

Here are the cities the Bradys touted. I've entered the names of the cities into a Google News search along with the words "gun" and "protest."

First, let's look at Chicago/Lake Barrington (the Brady site said "Evanston"), which was The Main Event--the one led personally by Jesse and Snuffy. Per ABC News, "about 150 marchers took their message to the DS Arms company plant..."

That's it? With all the hoopla and resources put into this, with all the free media exposure, with national names and a free ride to and from the protest, that's all the troops our mighty enemy could muster to the field in a fight they picked? Based on the comments left in this obscure blog, we managed to put together an opposing force of almost 60% of that number--and our volunteers paid for everything themselves. And we did it with no budget, no media exposure, no requests for donations...and that's just what's been reported on this blog. I note many visitors at Kim duToit's place pledged gun and ammo buys, and I look forward to a report from The Firearms Coalition.

OK, what about the other Bra-inbow PUSH cities? Remember the news search terms, "city name" and "gun" and "protest".

Newark: No after-the-fact stories appear. If there had been thousands do you think that would be the case?

Maryland: There are plenty of stories--let's link to one:


About 100 protesters rallied outside a gun shop in Maryland just across the District of Columbia border.
100? That's it for the nation's capitol?

Dallas: There are plenty of stories giving free PR to announce the rally, but not much reporting on the actual event. This CBS TV "report" does its best through selective camera angles and cuts to make a few dozen people look as large as possible, but for some reason reporting the actual number of protesters didn't strike "authorized journalist" Steve Pickett as newsworthy. If we are to believe the Brady's press release (and why wouldn't we?), "the news media said [the march] attracted hundreds..." but the source I found said "about 60 people marched." Hmmm....I wonder why the discrepancy...?

Denver: No after-the-fact reporting. It must have been glorious.

Duluth: Apparently matched only by Denver...

Evanston: I guess everybody figured out it was in Lake Barrington?

Ewing: Hey, at least they got mentioned in the Brady's paid press release.

Houston: Apparently, if we are to believe the demonstrably credible paid press release , some people hung some signs from a bridge.

Minneapolis: "Thirty-two people staged a 'lie-in' - [appropriate use of a term--DC] lying down on a north Minneapolis sidewalk." Y'know when I read about these and see the pictures, the first thought that comes to mind is Evel Knievel is never around when you really need him.

Philadelphia: "Dozens stage anti-gun rally"--well hold the presses.

Phoenix: In your face, Denver!

San Diego: A strong contender for edging out Phoenix...

And then, of course, 32 each for all the ridiculous "Protest Easy Guns" cities listed in the Brady announcement.

That's it. In spite of the enormous amount of advance pre-billing for this circus event by the mass media, and despite the money, power and names behind it, it turned out to be a dud. The fire in the belly seems to be mostly for self-promotion by Jesse and Snuffy, and a desperate search for relevance by the Bradys. Of course I have no scientific way to validate this, but my sense is that the stated goal here at WarOnGuns was achieved: That between (admittedly unvalidated) reports of ammo sales on this site and elsewhere, we probably came real close to buying a box of ammo (or spending equivalent dollars on guns or other gear) for every anti-gun protester that showed up.

Which means all the citizen disarmament mobs managed to do was produce the exact opposite of what they wanted: thanks to them, there are now tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition in private hands that would otherwise not have been bought on August 28. And they got meager after-the fact publicity for their failure because it was just so damned embarrassing to show how ineffectual they truly are at motivating anything other than staged grass roots support. Even the authorized journalists couldn't spin it as a victory.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update David. I was wondering both how the brady bunch did as far as their free publicity stunt, and how much ammo we all bought.

the pistolero said...

David: I could be wrong, but I think there were probably many more who bought ammunition who didn't leave a comment here. I can't help but think that the success of what we did is at least a little bigger than it might seem. You never know...

David Codrea said...

Pistolero--I said as much:
"...and that's just what's been reported on this blog. I note many visitors at Kim du Toit's place pledged gun and ammo buys, and I look forward to a report from The Firearms Coalition."

Also, plenty of forums picked up on this--I really have no way of validating everything, but my suspicion is our numbers are conceivably many times higher than what I'm seeing here.

the pistolero said...

plenty of forums picked up on this
Yep. I know it was all over The High Road. It would be interesting to see what the numbers were.

Anonymous said...

Nice one David.

Regarding the lack of nti-gun attendance, there's an old Scottish saying that has relevance here. It goes something like this:

"GERRITUPYE!"

Anonymous said...

Looks like the protest in Seattle was pretty pathetic:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=299200

From the article: "Two activists showed up. They stretched out on the ground for 32 seconds. Then they rolled up their banner -- www.protesteasyguns.com -- and headed for the parking lot."

LOL!

Thirdpower said...

The shop that the wife bought her new gun from was busy all day long according to the owner.

John R said...

As for the Dallas rally;

There were more reporters and police than there were Brady Bunch/Push protesters. 60 would seem to be about right.

The CBS11 article you mentioned did include some commentary from a couple of folks from our side of the street. They were kind of hard to ignore as they fell in behind the antis and marched right along with. The Dallas Morning News interviewed folks from our side also, just did not include our comments with the article.

Anonymous said...

I did my part! I found a nice NIB pre-lock S&W snubbie at my favorite gun shop in PA.

Anonymous said...

This guy on OpenCarry.org got some video time on the local news in Contra Costa:

http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum12/4436.html

Melody said...

I bought a New Benelli trap gun, And Some Shells:)

Melody

Anonymous said...

David, you wrote: only one in 20 of you even bothered to respond--meaning the overwhelming majority, at least in this case, sat out from something so simple and self-beneficial as buying a box of ammo

It means nothing of the sort. I, for example, don't need another ball cap so I didn't feel any need to post (a box of Blazer .45acp, box of primers, can of powder, and 3000 bullets) here.

I'm pretty sure you reach a lot more people than you realize, if you rely on comments posted as an measuring stick. Not everyone neglects to post from apathy. And in this case, not bragging online isn't the same thing as sitting out.

Don't get discouraged, you are making a difference. A big one.

Anonymous said...

There were probably alot of people like me who didnt respond. The days take...1000 rounds 5.45x39. Your blog is one of the best, thanks David

Clint said...

I'm quite sure we were not the only ones. I told many friends who do not read blogs, much less comment on them, who were all going to buy ammo. I am in a rural area so many of them, rather than making a trip to the city, may have just stopped by the local hardware store. I doubt these types of sales will be easy to measure.

Also, the VCDL (vcdl.org), of which SailorCurt, the hat winner is a member, sent out an announcement in one of their email alerts last week linking to you and a few others. That system boasts an audience of 6,400 people!

I had been a fairly infrequent reader of this blog, hitting it maybe once a week. However, if you wish to be a rally point for protests, counter-protests and civil actions that give us the opportunity to show our numbers and resolve, I will be here several times a day. I bought ammo and I already sent my request to CNN. What's your next recommendation?

David Codrea said...

Thanks Clint--I can't consistently promise to be a focal point for anything--I do what strikes me as needed at any given time. However, just today I did start another bit of activism--see "A Great Question" at:
http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2007/08/great-question.html

If you want to support this new idea, any help spreading the word will be appreciated.