The queer people who are buying guns to prepare for Trump’s America
The queer people who are buying guns to prepare for Trump’s America
Since Donald Trump’s reelection in November, non-traditional gun groups across the city and country have seen a flood of interest.
A lot of people around here who don't know what project 2025 says to do to queer people. Also a lot of people being strangely anti gun about this. So what, you think the solution is to sit back and do nothing? Do you think individual trans people are capable of sby themselves overturning gun legislation and having all the transphobes guns taken away?
Fascists have guns. The police sure as fuck isn't going to start taking their guns away. The laws are not changing. If the state won't protect you, if the state is trying to harm you, your only choice is to arm yourself.
I do think America needs better mental healthcare and maybe some licensing requirements on firearms.
I also think those licenses should let me buy any firearm if I pass the qualifications.
But I digress, an armed minority is harder to oppress. If every time the feds try to arrest someone, it turns into fucking wako, they will be more hesitant to harass people.
an armed minority is harder to oppress
With the level of police militarisation, I wouldn't be so sure. If police murders a bunch of queer people, it's still a pr disaster and so it's something they want to avoid. But a bunch of queer people with guns in one place is called a compound or even possibly headquarters and they're allowed to deploy tanks and flamebombs against it.
In the escalatory war wins the side that is legally allowed to own tanks and deploy flamethrowing robots. Every time.
Arm the oppressed
But if you do get one make sure to maintain it and your skills with it so that you use, clean, and store it safely and are effective if you do use it.
God damn right! If you are new to guns though please go take a safety class first, the hunter safety course (even if you don't hunt) is a wonderful intro imo, and typically free/cheap. Took it when I was 11ish and it did a great job getting me in the mindset of always being conscious of where I point the muzzle of my firearms.
All this is from a pretty staunch gun advocate too (although I am extremely open to and encourage discussions around how to regulate them a bit more).
It's amazing how whatever is going on in politics, the gun industry always seems to win.
My cautionary tale is that I knew a guy from my childhood whose wife was raped in a break in. He bought a gun to keep around the house for protection, and the wife killed herself with it.
Especially sad because every extra gun that is added is just more opportunity for innocents in the line of fire to get gunned down.
There's no "bad-guy-seeking-bullets." This ain't Roger Rabbit.
I'm generally in favor of gun ownership, and in favor of mandatory training. I wish the government would provide/pay for training, but I wish a lot of things.
Before buying a gun, please consider:
How will you safely store it? Are children Ever over at your house? Can you access it from storage in an emergency?
Where, and when can you practice using your gun in a safe location? Typically, this means going to a range. It's best if you know an existing gun owner/range member to help you the first time. If you buy a gun, you should safely operate it on at least two days, to build familiarity.
What kind of gun suits your needs? Rifles are better for hunting, and other situations where time is readily available. Handguns are easier to conceal, store, and use. Shotguns are better at hitting things with poor aim, but they hit a lot of other things, too. Most guns are designed to fire one shape of cartridge (generally specified as a diameter and a length), but can support multiple types of bullet (full metal jacket, hollow point, and green tip are fairly common for rifles and pistols. Bird shot, buck shot, and slugs are common for shotguns).
Not all cheap guns are bad, and not all expensive guns are good. Generally, more popular cartridges and guns are preferable, because it makes obtaining ammunition, maintaining the weapon, and knowing of any design issues easier.
Accessories (especially a flashlight, or sights suited to the expected use) can improve the usefulness of a gun significantly. You will also generally want eye and ear protections for range use, and at least cotton swabs, a lubricant, and a bore rope to clean and maintain your gun.
Do you know your rights? Do you know the laws applicable in your area? In some states, there are laws about which guns you can buy, how you can transport them, how you can carry them, how you can store them, and how you can use them. You should know the requirements for lawful self defense (Andrew Branca's five elements is my favorite explanation). In all 50 states, there are laws about who can buy guns, and some restrictions about where you can buy guns. There are restrictions on how you can modify guns that apply in all 50 states.
If you can afford training, look up the instructor you will have. The individual instructor makes a lot more difference than the facility or institution, IMO.
If you, or a loved one that will have access to your firearm are, or could be suicidal, be aware, and act accordingly, that easy access to a firearm is a risk factor for suicide.
If your gun fails to fire, or sounds weak when you pull the trigger, keep the barrel pointed in a safe direction. This can be a delayed ignition, or a squib. Both are extremely dangerous. After two minutes (longer if you don't have a clock, and are just counting it out), you can open the chamber, remove the cartridge, and ensure that the barrel is free of obstructions. Depending on the kind of gun, this may be by running a bore rope through, or by looking from the chamber end of the barrel through towards the muzzle. If the barrel is obstructed, take it to a professional without firing it again.. If this happens more than one time, throw out your ammo, find a new ammo supplier, and make sure that your ammo is exposed to minimal moisture in storage.
Finally, the axioms of gun safety:
Treat every gun as if it is loaded. Even when you have checked, continue to practice safe handling.
Never point a gun at something you are unwilling to destroy.
Know your target, and what is behind your target.
Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
PRACTICE WITH YOUR GUN! Don't just buy it and expect to be able to do anything with it in a crunch.
I always add, learn how to treat a bullet wound and have kit to do so.
This is important for when something unthinkable or even an accident happens. Carrying a flat-packed tourniquet with your weapon can save your life if it misfires through your leg, or a ricochet hits you. In my case it helped when I had to defend myself against a group of people acting hostile. I drew, they didn't back off, one charged and took a shot through the arm and collapsed holding his arm. His friends ran away, likely thought he was dead. I stopped the bleeding until the ambulance got there. The cops met him at the hospital (GSWs get reported). I didn't have any legal fallout or problems from the police. They said it was clearly self-defense and I put myself at risk helping the guy.
Boring anecdote, I know, but it matters. I am not gonna advocate for altruisticly saving a Nazi/MAGA that you defend yourself from, but it can benefit you in a system rigged against you. Or it can save YOUR life if you both get a shot off and your aim is true, while the other person hits you in a limb.
Also, it just doesn't hurt having more people with critical casualty care skills and kit walking around.
I'll say it before and I'll say it again:
Having a weapon and not being in a large group in public just means the cops are more likely to shoot first and ask questions later. Especially in Trump's America.
If you're alone don't give them a reason to believe you're armed, because it will be used as a pretext to murder you.
The only time it works is if you're in a large enough group and in a public space where the cops will draw unwanted attention to what they're trying to do.
An LGBT person might decide that's an acceptable risk if it allows them the chance to deter or prevent violence against them from the increased number of empowered bigots walking around in Trump's America
Of course, I'm merely pointing out that it's not a cure-all and people like Philando Castile learned the hard way that doing things legally doesn't mean a cop won't shoot you just because they're scared. (Especially when you're a minority)
It's a protective measure that relies on: you never having more than one assailant, you being quicker on the draw than your assailant, and you being a really good shot under pressure. (That final one is what results in innocents deaths, and not enough people want to admit that they might not actually be that good of a shot.)
It's why I personally prefer a couple high-powered flashlights. The best way to survive an altercation is to escape it.
I mean, who wants to be taken alive by Nazis?
Hawaii and the District of Columbia are the only two states that require all firearms to be registered. If you buy the right kind, no one official will ever know you have it.
Cops are not your friends
I'm not queer (though I consider myself an ally) I will be buying a gun because my last name and skin tone goes against Fürer Orange ideal master race.
I fear there's going to be violence. You'd be insane to not prepare for that.
I’m neither queer nor am I otherwise in any immediate danger, and I decided on the day after the election that I’m buying a couple of guns. It’d crossed my mind during the 45th administration and now I realize that I should have committed myself to it sooner.
We should all be preparing ourselves whether we’re in danger or not, if only to be there for those who are endangered.
Not queer here, but I will stand and fight along side my queer friends and family to protect them.
Cool, let's arm both sides... The solution is always moar guns!
When you're preparing to fight a fascist regime, more guns is the solution.
Been working out so well with around 50k Americans dying every year needlessly. We are also clocking in at around one thousand child deaths every year. Japan had zero child deaths from guns this year, and the last, and the last, ad nauseam.
I know you gun nutters love your defense fantasies, but arming the gays isn't going to solve any problems and will result in more dead people
We already have more guns than people. How many moar guns until we are finally safe!?
Guns is how we solved the Nazi problem the first time. If you've got a better solution, we're all ears.
Military action is how the Nazi military was defeated. Nazism was never defeated though. You must understand the US was very pro-Nazi before WWII. Wealthy private individuals from the US helped to find the Nazi party.
Later on, after the Nazi rose to power these same US individuals lobbied the governments of Europe and the US not to take the Jews in. The Nazi party originally wanted to expel all the Jews. This lead to the final solution and the murder of millions.
So it is more complex than guns kill Nazi. We were not the good guys in all this. I also think this has little to do with gun proliferation in the US and the lack of regulation causing untold suffering.
Unironically yes, because more violence is incoming.
Since they belive in enacting laws that benefit them only, we have to twist these same laws against them.
Don't want more guns (or any guns tbh), but fuck it, I'm buying a gun and going to the shooting range with my fuck trump rainbow tshirt
Better to keep a low profile in places you're outnumbered.
Omaha beach was invaded with flowers and poems...
This is funny to me because this assumes they don’t already own guns and don’t know how to use them effectively.
That is actually not such an unreasonable assumption. Yes there are groups like Pink P who help arm and train LGBT folks. But someone who is LGBT is much more likely to be on the liberal side of things, urban rather than rural, and thus less exposure to civilian gun ownership.
There is also a lot of stigma among liberals. I have heard from a number of LGBT folks that it was far easier to come out to their Republican friends as gay than their Democratic friends as owning a gun- Republicans disapprove of gay people a lot less than Democrats disapprove of gun owners.
All of this could have been avoided if Biden had "official acted" the entire republican party
My unregistered rifle:
There's not a situation that an american can't shoot or explode him/herself out of.
If the situation is “fascist coming for you with a weapon” I’m okay with the answer being guns.
Feels relevant. Idk shit about guns.
Investigating the Link Between Gun Possession and Gun Assault.
Objectives. We investigated the possible relationship between being shot in an assault and possession of a gun at the time. Methods. We enrolled 677 case participants that had been shot in an assault and 684 population-based control participants within Philadelphia, PA, from 2003 to 2006. We adjusted odds ratios for confounding variables.
Results. After adjustment, individuals in possession of a gun were 4.46 (P < .05) times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not in possession. Among gun assaults where the victim had at least some chance to resist, this adjusted odds ratio increased to 5.45 (P < .05).
Conclusions. On average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. Although successful defensive gun uses occur each year, the probability of success may be low for civilian gun users in urban areas. Such users should reconsider their possession of guns or, at least, understand that regular possession necessitates careful safety countermeasures.
All 5 of them. “We just don’t want to be put in concentration camps.” Just a little bit of hyperbole.
They weren't thrown into concentration camps in 2016-20, and it is very likely if not guaranteed that they won't be put into concentration camps now. If anyone tries to put them into concentration camps, I support them being armed & defending their rights to freedom.
There is a lot of ignorance about firearms, and by people who admit in the article they have not owned or operated firearms. If they are of sound mind & judgment & educate themselves on firearm safety, I see no problem with this movement. Knowledge dispels fear. An armed, educated populace isn't enslaved. I want everyone who is good to also be strong, smart, armed, and free.
They are building camps in Texas. Concentration camps are going to be a thing soon.
It’s a matter of who is put in there first, probably migrants, but any mass immigration sweep WILL sweep up citizens. It’s happened in the past before.