New and Used Anti-Gun Websites Traffic in Humor and Deception
June 10, 2005

by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor

From time to time Gun Week tries to keep you updated on the latest anti-gun maneuvers on the Internet.

What’s interesting about the anti-gunners’ use of cyberspace, is that they keep creating new sites as the old ones grow stale, but they never stop trying, and they will use their sophomoric humor or flat-out deceptions in the classic propaganda style.

One of the fairly recent sites is FreedomStatesAlliance.com, which represents a coalition of old opponents of many civil liberties, such as MoveOn.org, originally bankrolled by international billionaire George Soros, and that old standby, the Violence Policy Center (vpc.org).

The Freedom States Alliance (FSA) claims to be “an outside the DC beltway project working to reduce gun injury and death in the United States. Much of our focus is on public awareness campaigns intended to change the way Americans think about guns, gun violence and the gun industry.”

The www.freedomstatesalliance.com site posts most updates weekly, but it has several subsidiary websites. These include: 50CaliberTerror.com, also updated weekly, and GunGuys.com, which posts daily news links, with a sophomoric attempt at humor.

The FSA also has WhoIsMaryRosh.com, which is a site dedicated to marginalizing John Lott, author of More Guns=Less Crime and The Bias Against Guns, and GunLoophole.com.

Gunguys.com
Of special interest is the newer gunguys.com, which is sort of a Mad magazine version of the BradyCampaign.org. But don’t be fooled by the gunguys.com slogan: “where everyone’s a straight shooter.” They may or may not be straight, but they certainly aren’t shooters.

Their links to other news stories carry frat-house type headlines and a state identifier.

Here are a few examples:

“NY: .50 Caliber Sniper Rifles Much Like Smarmy Self-Righteous Philosophy Major You Met In College. The More People Get To Know Them, The Less They Like Them. (5.24)

“TX: Ted Nugent, On The Other Hand, Is Like That Guy You Knew Who Always Wore a Lampshade on His Head At Parties, Got Too Drunk Too Early, And Proceeded To Vomit All Over Your Throw Rug. (5.24)

“IL: Illinois Gun Shills Attempt Hip-Hop Makeover? Pledge ‘Much Love To Our Homies...The Bloods, Crips, and OGs of the Great State of Illinois.’ (5.24)”

And just two more topical ones:

“PA: Communist Nazi Gun Grabbers Think Terrorist Shouldn’t Be Able to Buy Guns, Gun Thefts Should Be Reported to Police, and Gun Crimes Should Be Vigorously Prosecuted. (5.24)

“DC: One DC Resident Thinks a Certain Texas Lawmaker Should Mind Her Own Beeswax. Guns+Poverty+Densely Populated Urban Area=Trouble. (5.24).”

Gunguys.com also posts an e-mail forum with such contributions as:

“Go jack off with your 50 cal. ....no woman with a brain will tolerate you....hahahahahahahah.....” or

“Do yo miss having Chuck Heston (the sword and sandal gay from Hollywood) as your lord and master?”

Brady Campaign
StealthPacs.org, which is a non-partisan research site that lists and maintains data on various political action committees (PAC) linked to both Republican and Democrat federal campaigns, lists both pro and anti-gun organizations, and provides data about the amount each PAC spent supporting or opposing candidates in each election cycle. It lists PACs as Republican or Democrat-leaning depending on the party that receives the most financial support. In addition to listing the Brady Campaign PAC as Democrat, it provides additional information.

For example, according to StealthPacs.org, “Several of the Brady Campaign’s principal officers and directors have ties to the Democratic Party. Brady Campaign President Michael Barnes served in the House as a Democrat from Maryland from 1979 to 1987. Michael S. Berman, a member of the board of directors, was an aide to Vice President Walter Mondale and served as treasurer to the 1984 Mondale-Ferraro presidential campaign. Tony Orza, the Brady Campaign’s director of government relations, worked as legislative counsel for Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and as general counsel for Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).”

Another anti-gun site of fairly recent vintage is STOPtheNRA.com which is linked to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. One of their typical e-mails to supporters says:

In case you missed the fact that the Brady Campaign PAC paid a fine to settle a Federal Election Commission complaint, here’s the May 5 story from Associated Press (AP).

“A gun control group and its political action committee have paid a $12,000 fine to settle a campaign finance case from the 2000 election.

“At issue were ads and endorsements by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and its Brady Voter Education Fund involving various Democratic candidates in 2000.

“The American Conservative Union, in a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, accused the Brady organizations of making illegal corporate contributions to the Democrats’ campaigns.

“The FEC disclosed the outcome of the case on (May 5).”

AGS
While we’re reviewing some of the anti-gun organization’s Internet addresses and messages, let’s not forget Americans for Gun Safety (AGS), an anti-gun organization founded in July 2000 and originally bankrolled by Andrew J. McKelvey, the millionaire founder of monster.com, the job placement website/marketplace. McKelvey is a former board member of Handgun Control Inc., which morphed into the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (website: www.bradycampaign.org). The name change was designed to get away from “control,” which surveys showed had an unpopular connotation, and adopt “safety” which sounded more positive. However, control is still the agenda of both AGS and the Brady Campaign.

From the beginning, the Arlington, VA-based AGS, claimed to be “centrist” and not anti-gun, yet has supported just about every restrictive gun proposal anyone has offered in Washington or the 50 state capitols. Early on it established an organizational plan that would provide seed money for the creation of state affiliates which would raise money to sustain their own activities at the state and local level.

The AGS masquerade is outlined in the website mission statement. “AGS recognizes and supports the rights of law-abiding Americans to own and use guns. We also believe that with all rights come responsibilities, and we urge shared responsibility for the safe use, storage and distribution of guns by all parties—manufacturers, dealers, owners, law enforcement, and members of society in general. AGS is beginning a new national dialogue, shifting the gun debate from one of rights versus responsibilities to one of rights and responsibilities.”

Claiming that gun safety is the paramount issue, AGS goes on to say, “We will also advocate a range of common sense individual, state and national solutions to reduce gun access by criminals and children. These solutions will include stricter enforcement of existing laws, closing the loopholes in state and national laws, adoption of safe gun design features, promotion of gun safety training, and other sensible approaches to reducing gun violence.”

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is featured on the AGS website because he was the star of the movie theater and TV ad campaign to close down secondary gun sales between two private individuals at gun shows, matches and other gun-related events.

The website for AGS is: www.americansforgunsafety.com.

You might want to log-on to one or more of these anti-gun sites and register for their mailing list. In fact, you may want to register with all of these sites to keep up with their latest attempts to destroy your right to keep and bear arms. It won’t cost you a dime, but your blood pressure.

What they consider humor is just another deception and misdirection. In the end: out of the hat comes a new anti-gun law.
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