Strategically, the smartest opponents to the right to bear arms are now based out of the offices of a billionaire in New York City. The folks who are headquartered in Washington, DC have been on the decline.
But here’s what I find interesting. Sebastian noted that the National Gun Victims Action Council are “a particularly whacked out fringe group” based on their very bizarre claims and goals. First of all, they carry this warning in large red letters on their website:
CAUTION Whenever you hear ANYTHING about guns that seems appealing, reasonable or factual KNOW IT IS PROBABLY NOT TRUE. For the facts contact us at: info@gunvictimsaction.org
Second, they really do work on the assumption that every person in the U.S. should be a presumed future criminal with claims like this: Fact: Every criminal was once law abiding citizen.
Third, instead of the standard Brady talking points that they don’t actually want to come for our guns, NGAC outright admits their goal is to come take our guns away: Any sane gun law will lead to the government being able to take your guns away.
What’s interesting is that their boycott is not based on the idea that they don’t want to be around gun owners while they enjoy their scones and frappuccinos, it’s actual goal is to force Starbucks to donate to NGAC. To end the boycott will require Starbucks ban all guns from its stores—and become a major supporter of policies to reduce gun violence. In other words, banning guns isn’t enough. They will demand that corporations line the pockets of the leaders of this group in order to end the boycott.
But here’s the very interesting thing about the National Gun Victims Action Council: They are the Brady Campaign.
From their Board biographies:
- Elliot Fineman is a senior member of the Brady PAC–Illinois, the group that makes endorsements on behalf of the Brady Campaign in Illinois.
- Andrew Goddard is the President of the Richmond Chapter of the Million Mom March, a division of the Brady Campaign.
- Lori O’Neill is the past President & Vice President of the Million Mom March of Cleveland which she calls the “grassroots arm of the Brady Campaign.”
- Jeanne Bishop has served as President of the North Suburban Chicagoland Million Mom March Chapter and lists herself as a general Brady Campaign volunteer.
- Griffin Dix was Chairman of the Brady Campaign’s Million Mom March National State Presidents Council and the chapter-elected member of the Brady Campaign Board of Trustees.
- Bill Jenkins is married to the National Program Director for Victims and Survivors for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and represents the organization with his wife at public events.
- Thom Mannard is a founding member of the Brady PAC-Illinois.
- Alice Thomas-Norris is the President of the Million Moms March Chicago Chapter of Survivors for the Brady Campaign.
- Tom Vanden Berk is a board member of the Brady Campaign/Million Mom March.
- Amanda & Nick Wilcox are Legislative Co-Chairs of the California Chapters of the Brady Campaign as well as leaders of the Sacramento Valley Chapter and the Nevada County Brady Campaign Chapter.
- Willie Williams works with the Brady Campaign to target pro-rights lawmakers in Illinois during election years.
- Heidi Yewman is the Washington state president of the Million Mom March/Brady Campaign.
In other words, out of 16 people listed on NGAC’s board, 13 are in the Brady Campaign leadership. Most are state leaders, but several are national leaders.
So, given that this new unofficial arm of the Brady Campaign is turning towards a mission of embracing extreme gun control & extended boycotts, it looks like the folks who recognize at least some limits of Heller & McDonald have been run out of the organization. This suddenly makes much more sense when it comes to Helmke’s departure. Whereas he probably didn’t think it was wise to keep spending money trying to promote boycotts and petition drives to private corporations that weren’t working, they don’t want to relent. When he conceded that Heller took door-to-door confiscation off the table for the time being, they don’t consider that limitation to be within the realm of sanity. Certainly, this explains a lot of the odd behavior we’ve seen out of what was once the dominant gun control organization in the country over the last year and a half.
“But here’s the very interesting thing about the National Gun Victims Action Council: They are the Brady Campaign.”
They aren’t just the Brady Campaign. They are the nastiest, ugliest parts of the Brady Campaign. They are Brady Dark. Personally, I would not be surprised if the sole purpose of this organization is to make other gun control groups look less crazy.
On a related note, it is funny to watch the gun control groups double-down on the crazy. I wonder how long until they start engaging in self-immolation outside of gun shows.
It’s not Brady Dark, this is the new Brady standard.
I’ve got a 5 gallon can of gas to contribute to the cause…
I can get some highway flares.
But but but you’re only supposed to be able to hurt yourself with guns! If they self-immolated themselves at gun shows, then their deaths wouldn’t be observable, because they didn’t shoot themselves!
Besides, where would they be able to get any gasoline, anyway? Don’t you have to have a license, a background check, and wait five days in order to purchase that harmful stuff?
I’m going to reword that disclaimer and put it on my site tomorrow. I needed a contact me phrase.
And the “boycott” is just a typical Chicago shake-down racket to extort money in support of their sad little delusions and crack-addiction.
Fact: Every criminal was once law abiding citizen. [sic]
Any sane gun law will lead to the government being able to take your guns away.
~tongue-in-cheek~
Of course, every criminal was once a fetus. Clearly, any “sane” law to prevent crime will lead to mandatory abortion of all pregnancies. After all, if we allow potential criminals to be born, we’ll never see an end to crime….
~/tongue-in-cheek~
AuricTech: Brilliant!
By their logic, every member of the Brady Campaign/NGVAC could suddenly stop being a law-abiding citizen, snap and become a terrorist. Therefore, it’s best if we immediately pass laws to keep anything more dangerous than a sharp stick out of the hands of these pre-criminals.
How can they call themselves the National Gun Victims Action Council if they don’t have Joan Peterson on their board?
I think Joan Peterson is kind of the standard older woman kind of political person; she’s very much like my limousine liberal grandmother in Hawaii who thinks that gun ownership should be extremely limited to people “like us.” (I’ll let you decide what “like us” means since I really don’t want to think about the implications for my grandmother.) These folks appear to take the attitude that even the “like us” crowd cannot be trusted because they are all pre-criminal folks just waiting to go nuts.
The Brady Campaign filed briefs in support of the total handgun bans in D.C. and Chicago. They have never been adequately held accountable for that, and continue to deny that they “want to take everyone’s guns away”, which is exactly what they mean to do.
They are ultimately radical gun banners who have been limited to proceeding incrementally due to our resistance. One has to bear in mind that taking our guns is merely a “first step” towards the total control over us that these control freaks mean to eventually establish. They should be aggressively repudiated at every opportunity.
They’re starting to remind me of a drowning person thrashing around in the water in a panic.
If you want to take the analogy further: these people are thrashing because they suddenly realized they are in deep water–and just as a drowning person can accidentally pull a lifeguard under water with them, they will likely pull the Brady campaign (and hopefully MAIG, too, with lots of luck!) under water as well.
“We’re not a gun ban organization- we have a sister organization for that.â€
Whenever you hear ANYTHING about guns that seems appealing, reasonable or factual KNOW IT IS PROBABLY NOT TRUE. For the facts contact us at: info@gunvictimsaction.org
Read: If it sounds true- it’s not. If it sounds like totally whacked out BS…[thumbs pointing inward]
I just listened to the Cam & Company podcast and this post was covered very nicely. Good job Bitter!
Wow. That statement about “Whenever you hear ANYTHING about guns that seems appealing, reasonable or factual KNOW IT IS PROBABLY NOT TRUE” reminds of the occasional crazy I meet on our side who insists that not only is there no reason for there to be any laws restricting gun ownership for ANYONE but there is no reason for ANYONE to choose not to own a gun, because guns are intrinsically good. (Yes, I have met ideologue fanatics like this.)
Perhaps it would help to use their own tactics on them. Sue the people on the boards of the organiziaions that have helped deny a person of their constitutional right.
What would you sue them for? Having a different opinion than you? I don’t think it’s a very free country if we can file any sort of legitimate claim to the property and assets of someone just because they have a different opinion.
Their disclaimer is probably 100% accurate, if applied to the site it appears on.
I sent my email to Starbucks just now. Thanked them for allowing us to do so and said I will stop and get a cup or two even though I don’t frequent their store.
I just noticed something. Michael Bloomberg is listed as one of the “Likes.”
This should be hung around the necks of all the MAIG members.
Has anyone made a pro gun version of the caution statement? I’d love to share it with my followers on facebook.