Mike the Gun Weisser

Mike “The Gun Guy” Weisser’s huffingtonpost.com post can’t possibly claim that the antis’ box fresh “Gun Violence Awareness Day” proves that the NRA is losing the culture war. How could it? GVAD is tomorrow. We have no idea how many people will participate or what impact the “wear orange to show your support for civilian disarmament” will/won’t have. Mike would have to argue that the idea alone indicates the supremacy of MDA’s anti-gun agenda in the court of public opinion. He’s not that dumb is he? Well . . .

I think that June 2, touted as Gun Violence Awareness Day, may mark a true turning-point in the argument about guns. The pro-gun community can lobby all it wants for laws that make it easier to own or carry guns, but fewer gun restrictions won’t really matter if the country’s dominant culture becomes anti-gun. And while the NRA has been promoting gun ownership as their response to the “culture wars,” the millennial culture that is emerging and will define the country appears to be solidly anti-gun.

Note: “appears.” It “appears” that the young ‘uns are “solidly anti-gun” to Mike “The Gun Guy” Weisser. Who proceeds to jump through more hoops than a circus pony to “prove” his point.

How can I say that when recent opinion polls indicate that a majority of Americans believe that guns make America a safer place? I’ll tell you why.

When a writer forces himself to confront the fallacy of his argument by questioning his own logic you know he’s playing from his own end zone. I hate to say it, but watching Mike scramble for the line of scrimmage – and beyond! – is my idea of fun.

First, the surveys which ask Americans if guns make them safer also show that less than a majority actually own guns.

So the fact that people who don’t own guns believe guns make them safer reveals that the gun culture is in decline. Gotcha.

Second, despite the Obama-driven spike in gun sales, the industry has not managed to penetrate new demographics such as women and minorities; most guns and ammunition sold in the last few years went to the same-old, same-old who bought those guns for the same reason that gun sales have spiked at other times, namely, the fear of losing their guns.

An excellent example of the antis’ go-to strategy: repeat a lie so often people believe it. Factually speaking, back in 2013, townhall.com reported that . . .

A survey conducted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that 73 percent of gun dealers reported an increase in female customers in 2011, as well as the previous two years. In 2005, just 13 percent of gun owners were women. Today, that number is 23 percent–a 77 percent increase in 7 years.

More recently, last March, fortune.com reported that . . .

According to the National Sporting Goods Association, from 2001 to 2013 there was a 60% rise in women who participate in target shooting. On the hunting side, there was 85% growth . . .

“The biggest driver is women getting into the shooting sports, and practicing concealed carry,” said Ruttenbur. “When you look at the demographics, what has happened is there’s been a rise in women being head of the household. So it started with concealed carry, as a protection thing, but now women are going and taking the family to the range for fun. You don’t see it in the major cities, but go 10 miles outside the city, and gun ownership goes through the roof.”

That’s just women. The ENORMOUS number of twenty-something-and-above males playing FPS games like Call of Duty has created a GIGANTIC pool of future gun owners. A trip to a gun range also reveals the kind of diversity (if not the activity) Quaker schools adore.

Basically, it’s guns 2.0 – coming soon to a TV screen near you as a documentary on NBC (featuring our very own twenty-something gun guru Nick Leghorn). We can only assume that Mike, who admits to being out of the loop on celebrities like Amanda Peet, must not have access to Google or know anyone younger than, say, forty.

Finally and most important, the social and political views of millennials are completely at odds with the socio-demographic profile of the gun-owning population, and as millennials become the dominant generation, this could have dire consequences for the health and even survival of the gun industry as a whole.

So there’s no such thing as a gun-owing liberal, eh? I guess that’s what he means. If so, he’s wrong. And even if he’s right, he’s wrong. Gun sales have fallen back below the post-Newtown surge, but the new normal is significantly higher than it was pre-Obama. What does that tell you? That Mike’s a little factually-challenged. Alternatively, you could say he’s in love with Moms Demand Disarmament’s pathetic PR ploy.

Another master-stroke in planning this event was using orange to build identity and awareness for the folks who get involved. Orange, or blaze orange as it is known, has always been worn by hunters and many states require it for anyone goes out after game. Brady and Shannon’s Moms, among other organizations, have lately moved into the safety space which was owned lock, stock and barrel by the NRA. Guess who now shares and could soon own that space?

Don’t you just love marketing-speak? Neither do I. Anyway, I hardly think that people seeing hunters all ablaze will view them as anti-gun billboards. Any more than orange-robed Hare Krishnas will add “ban guns” in the chant “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.” Who else wears orange? Oh right. Prison inmates.

Time for the FFL turned traitor the cause of firearms freedom to close-up shop.

Until recently, the playing field where gun violence arguments played out was controlled by the NRA. But right now the field is tilting the other way. And notice how millennial culture has no problem attaching the word ‘violence’ to the word ‘guns.’ This alone should make the NRA wonder if their message can win or even compete for hearts and minds. The NRA always assumed that gun owners would defend their guns while everyone else just sat by. After June 2, I wouldn’t want to take that assumption to the bank.

It’s not the millennials who use the term “gun violence.” It’s the civilian disarmament industrial complex, their media enablers, various chiefs of police, race hustlers and residents of crime-infested neighborhood who refuse to take responsibility for the firearms-related violence plaguing their communities.

As for the idea that non-gun owners are going to rise up against Americans exercising their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms, it happens all the time. In The Huffington Post especially. But I’ll give Mike 20-1 odds that gun rights will remain intact in those parts of America where the idea of personal responsibility of individual liberty hold sway. And they call us insurrectionists.

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84 COMMENTS

        • Cretin:
          1) often offensive : one afflicted with cretinism
          2) a stupid, vulgar, or insensitive person

          Heathen:
          1) of or relating to heathens, their religions, or their customs
          2) strange, uncivilized

          Cretin appear to be the correct answer.

    • Mike “The Dumb Gun Guy” clearly never met a crueler he didn’t like, cretin or otherwise. I’m hoping he wears an undershirt tomorrow with his orange shirt- gotta keep them man-boobs in check.

  2. Defamation lawsuit?

    I probably would have bought a GLOCK until I saw the logo in the backdrop for that video. Shame.

    Has this group, or Huffpoo taken a single penny of foreign money to attempt to overthrow our Constitution?

  3. GVAD – Don’t forget to wear green in honor of M855 ammo.

    Orange may be the new black, but green is the new orange! 😉

  5. People who wear orange and will probably be counted as “supporting GVAD:”

    1. Road Construction crews
    2. Crossing Guards
    3. Hunters

      • Including the one who, had he not been through Chicago’s catch-and-release program a few too many times, would have been behind bars instead of shooting the 18 year old victim whose death ostensibly inspired the wear-orange campaign.

      • What genius thought is was a fantastic idea to imitate the one demographic that produces the majority of violence in this country?

    • Walmart Greeters and cart-wranglers.
      Parking attendants.
      Baggage handlers.
      Motorcyclists on U.S. Military bases.
      Volunteers at marathons.

      This is fun, I could go on all day!

      • And what’s sad is that my comment was not entirely tongue-in-cheek. Anti gunners have never found a statistic or study they couldn’t manipulate or misrepresent.

    • Orange ribbons are worn by a number of Dept of Transportation employees in different states for work zone awareness….

    • There’s also a movement among christian to wear orange as a show of solidarity with the victims of ISIS (due to them putting their victims in orange jumpsuits in the beheading videos).

      Interesting concept– orange for the unarmed victims of tyrants…

    • In his next article he’ll claim the ENTIRE POPULATION of Clemson University and the University of Tennessee wore orange to support his pathetic idea.

  6. TL:DR – antis are playing the long game. They know they can’t win today so they hope their lies will influence the next generation, and the generations after.

    • Unfortunately for them, Call of Duty defines the generation they’re trying to suppress.

  8. “Gun Guy”? please.. this is a shill for Bloomy, nothing more.. if Glock has a relationship with him, then SHAME on them… In Maine, i can see gun rights becoming a more and more accepted civil right.. we have a constitutional carry bill approved by the Senate, more than half that have signed on to the bill in the house (keep your fingers crossed for the next two weeks) and a GREAT governor that WILL sign it… BS that the young ‘uns are running away from guns.. where is the growth of support coming from? Our state’s progs from away? i think not.

    • He’s a “gun guy” in the same sense that someone is an expert on African-American culture if they have a black friend.

  9. I actually see at least one group of 20-something’s in my local range (indoor, 25yd) every time I go. Almost always the discussion with the clerk at the rental counter starts with “We’ve never done this before, but…”, or “Always wanted to try this out, so…”. Guys, girls, different demographics, doesn’t matter. Always at least one female on the range as well, sometimes more like 50/50.

    It’s always fun when I’m trying out something new (well, new to me) and seeing their reactions. Last time I went there was a pair of new guys who rented a .22LR AR, and I showed up with my freshly repaired and upgraded M48 8mm Mauser. Plink… plink… plink… Boom! Hehe, it was like prairie dogs popping their heads up wondering what was that? Probably spent 15 minutes showing it off and explaining things to them and the RO (who was equally interested). Fun times 🙂

    • Millenials at the gun range. Outdoor range the other day — many college students including the girlfriends. Indoor range a week or so ago, 21 year old young lady not even five feet tall with new Glock 43, clearly her birthday present, proudly destroying the target; a young couple – guy teaching his wife or girlfriend. Another young lady I watched destroy the heart and head of a target with a .22 x 9 shot revolver out at a good distance. Scary consistent. Last fall at the outdoor range the young wife doing long range .22 target shooting while her husband sighted in his SKS. Said she worked at the gun department at Gander Mountain. I am sure she sold a lot of other young women, and being kind of cute, a lot of guys as well. Then there was the black guy last week at the indoor range, non-millenial possibly LEO, with a collection of Ruger SR’s in all 4 calibers, examining the Hogue sleeve on my SR9C as we discussed whether my shooting was decent that day (he said yes, I said not so sure. Then I pulled in the target and was pleased he was right). Then there’s my daughter, her boyfriend, even her former boyfriend and many of their friends. I think Mike the Gun Guy has been with the HuPo staff a bit too long.

  10. So should we wear orange while ocing tomorrow or is there a decided color? We need a post on the counter protest asap guys

    • Well, that’s what I’m doing. I already bought my orange shirt that says “You can give peace a chance; I’ll cover you in case it doesn’t work out.” I’ll be open carrying my PX4 and looking for errands to run in the east valley. I don’t really expect anyone to even know it’s “Gun Violence Awareness Day,” but I’m prepared to remind people of the difference between guns and violence if anyone engages with me.

  11. We should all open carry in orange t-shirts to show that we are doing our part to prevent #gunviolence. We should be clean and respectful and go about our business like we normally do, but if asked about why we’re wearing orange and open carrying we can explain that we care about America’s violent crime problem as well. We can talk about how our ‘blame society’ mentality in liberal judicial districts is releasing convicted criminals early to become repeat offenders. We can explain how ‘universal background checks’ and ‘assault weapon bans’ do nothing to prevent violent crime. We can talk about how long it takes for police to arrive and stop a violent act, and we can explain that the American citizen should take responsibility for their own safety, and talk about how we are our own first responders. And after talking sense, we can invite people to the range, or just go on about our day in a peaceful manner to further reinforce that the average law abiding gun owner is not the problem.

    • That was more or less my plan, sans open carrying, that part wouldn’t go over too well at work.

      We are the ones who are actually about gun safety and against violence. Meanwhile they seek to embolden the criminals and foment violence against peaceful people. So we absolutely shouldn’t let them take ownership of blaze orange unopposed!

      • As a member of the United States Navy I can neither wear orange nor open carry at work, but I’m going to support the cause before and after work.

        • A quick glance at a color wheel shows light blue as the opposite color of orange. I’ll be wearing my MSI (Maryland Shall Issue) shirt. I’m sure there is something in the approved Navy uniforms which will work for you.

    • I’m going to be wearing an empty holster. (can’t open carry at work for the usual reasons)

  12. I like to use Texas CHL applications as a proxy for firearms ownership demographics, particularly of new owners. It’s a sound database in itself and available online; broken down by age, ethnicity and gender. Moreover, I figure since self defense is so often cited as a new gun owner’s reason for purchasing, then CHL applications may reflect that pattern, too.

    So, from the mid 1990s through 2008, percentage of CHLs issued to females bounced around some, but averaged about 18.5%. In 2009, it surged to 22.2% and never looked back, hitting 26.7% in 2014. Seems like the ladies are exercising their rights but good.

    On the age side (M and F), the 35 and under group was averaging about 17% of issued licenses in the 2000s. This decade? Just shy of 23%. Seems the younger adults are getting in on the action, too.

    Minorities? 1.6% in the 1990s, 11.5% in the 2000s, and a whopping 15.2% of CHLs issued in 2014.

    All of this is against a backdrop of the number of active licenses increasing annually.

    Take it for what it’s worth, but I’m not seeing it as just OFWGs adding to their arsenal/cache/stockpile.

  14. I really don’t get this dude’s approach – is his gun ownership supposed to make him more credible despite the fact that he constantly campaigns against it? That’s like a parent who constantly tries to kill his/her kid expecting equal credibility as parents who don’t.

    More realistically, I think this is just lefty circlejerking/figureheading so they can claim “some gun owners want increased regulation!”

    Either that or he’s just insane, because rational people don’t act against their own interests.

  15. Please stop giving this BDJ (Brain Dead Jackass) attention. He may not go away even if we ignore him, but giving him any attention is counter productive to the cause we support. If he was significant then I would say monitor him as you would any enemy but unlike Bloomberg and lots of other evil politicians who routinely support anti-freedom legislation he is insignificant fluff in the path of what we need to get done.

    Thanks for the suggestion, Bob Wall. I will be wearing Green for the M855 Green Tip the anti-freedom folks tried to ban!

  16. Women don’t own or buy guns? My wife, 3 sisters, multiple nieces and 3 sisters in law find that funny. I’ll share Mike the gun guy’s point w my minority former students I frequently run into at the local range. We will share a laugh or two as we safely put some down range

  17. So I was working on a very long project with a very large cast and crew. (I’m in the film and TV biz.) Word got out that I owned guns. Requests (usually someone cornering me in an empty hallway or behind a set wall) flooded forth from millennials all who wanted to “go shoot a gun.” Their reason for their interest? All of them fear a temporary or more permanent collapse of law and order and think that knowing how to shoot a gun might not be such a bad idea. They (especially the woman) also like the idea of being able to defend themselves as many live alone in often not so great parts of town. (They were stunned and thrilled to see that the person running the range was a woman, and that she open carries.)

    Tp date, a half dozen of these young men and women, all of whom live in or around the hipster USA capitol of Brooklyn, NY have made the trek to my upstate house for a demo and dry fire introduction to firearms followed by a trip to the range. Every single one of them loved it.

    I know this is anecdotal, but ten years ago the idea of outing myself as a gun guy was simply impossible. I would have been drummed from the business.

    From where I sit, in the bluest part of a very blue states, attitudes are shifting, but not Mike’s way.

  18. I’m wearing my ENDO “Keep calm and carry one” shirt to work tomorrow to make it clear to anyone wearing orange which side I am on. In respect to millennial, I have two at work (a 22yo Hispanic female and a 24yo African-American male) who want to go shoot with me next weekend. One grew up in Philadelphia and the other in New York. Both have never touched or even seen a real gun but each expressed a desire to learn safe handling of a gun, and exposure to different types of guns, before buying one for self protection at home. This is what real gun sense in America looks like.

    As a side note, I was wearing the same shirt a couple days ago while traveling. I’m standing at baggage claim waiting for my bag and a 20ish something young lady walks up beside me about 4 feet away. I couldn’t see the front of her shirt and she couldn’t see the front of mine. I turned to face her direction because I saw my bag coming down the conveyor and she turned my direction as she struggled to get her bag off the conveyor.. As she looked over at me, I saw a look that was a cross between a Billy Idol “White Wedding” sneer and a “who stepped in dog crap?” look. She then made sure and turned her back to me and took a step away (even though the exit was behind me) , so that I could see the big Demanding Moms logo on the back of her shirt, before she whipped around and walked briskly by. I would never dream of giving the same “I wish you were dead” look to someone who hasn’t said a word to me, just because I disagree their t-shirt but yet that’s not the first time I’ve had the other side ct like it’s their duty to do so. I guess besides not teaching gun safety, the moms also don’t teach manners

    http://www.endoapparel.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/1911-keep-calm-and-carry-one-shirt/1911-Keep-Calm-And-Carry-One-TriBlack-Shirt-Full-Resolution.jpg

  19. I am a millennial, I proudly support gun rights, and the expansion of gun rights. Also I love going to the shooting range.

    • Invite your non-shooter friends to go shooting sometime…

      Especially the ladies.

      🙂

  21. I forgot all about “gun violence awareness day.” I will do my part. I will open carry at my local Kroger owned Harris-Teeter tomorrow and wear and orange vest.

  23. Recently, the NRA had a convention down in Dallas, Texas. They had it at the Cowboy’s Stadium, and it was packed. Those stupid Mom’s Bloomberg group had a rally outside. They barely had 100 or so people. That so-called “gun guy” is a lying sack o’garbage liberal punk creating propaganda.

  24. Losing the war becasue you’ve declared a day???

    Okay I declare that Wednesday will be National Bacon Cheeseburger Day to show we are winning the cultural war against tofu.

  26. Losing the culture war?

    No it doesn’t – it just means the divide between us and them is growing wider.

    In gun violence awareness day – I donate to the NRA. We all reduce gun violence in our own special way I suppose.

  27. One thing I’ve noticed is the late-teen to 20 something CoD players are not only interested in shooting modern rifles but many are also interested in using classic military rifles such as Mosin-Nagants, Mausers, and Lee-Enfields.

    My group has had its biggest influx of new members in many years. Our service shooting is quite hard, especially at 300 metres, in overcast conditions, and shooting at a target that is black and merges into the backstop (Figure 13, represents a machine-gunner and loader). Easy with a scoped Remchesterby off a bipod. A real challenge with a 60 plus year old rifle with iron sights and off the elbows.

  28. Ayup, had forgotten all about this. Hadn’t planned on going out tomorrow, but now it’s on the agenda. Open carrying, as opposed to my usual concealed. Wouldn’t wear orange though. Reminds me of my relatives who had to wear yellow badges 80 years ago.

  29. Well that’s brilliant. If I were a criminal, tomorrow, I wound be on the look out for those orange shirts….right? Wouldn’t these orange shirts all be self identifying as unarmed?

  32. Mike the MOD. Foolish old boomer doesn’t realize the culture war is already over, and bitter old Fudds like him lost.

  33. LOL. GVAD is proof that *we* are winning the culture war. With big win after big win in favor of expanding gun rights the antis needed a high-profile attention-grab to try to stay relevant. Cue the “please wear orange so we can count every last person with so much as a scrap of orange thread as an ardent supporter of our cause” sideshow.

  34. Some things I’ve noticed about my fellow millennialist is that even the more moderate lefties:

    1) At least tolerate guns
    2) Are typically open to going to the range at least once
    3) Don’t trust the .gov on the whole
    4) Want to be left alone

    Number 4, I believe, is the reason why there is so much support for gay marriage in my generation. It isn’t that we really buy the entire LBGT mantle, it’s just that we don’t care enough to be against it. There are enough people out there who DESERVE our hate and ire that we don’t need to go making up our own boogeyman.

    I could be wrong, but the millennial a might just move this country libertarian,

  36. I heard about this too recently to act. I want the PotG to honor the day — not by wearing orange, but by wearing “blue steel” blue T-shirts that clearly say:

    Gun Violence Awareness Day:

    Be Armed: Stop the Killer, Stop the Violence

  37. I borrowed one fact & attribution to TTAG and included it with my comments on his page:

    You are both factually challenged and delusional. On the aspect of females owning & purchasing guns alone: “the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that 73 percent of gun dealers reported an increase in female customers in 2011, as well as the previous two years. In 2005, just 13 percent of gun owners were women. Today, that number is 23 percent–a 77 percent increase in 7 years.” it gets worse-all of your numbers, wishes and fantasies about dressing as prisoners to abscond with blaze orange hunting safety garb are desperate and just as useful as a misspelled anti-gun protest sign. See more uncomfortable truths at TTAG: http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/06/robert-farago/mike-the-gun-guy-weisser-gun-violence-awareness-day-shows-nra-is-losing-the-culture-war/#more-361019

    Gun-grabbers are shirking their responsibilities to protect their families and are demonizing those who take personal safety seriously. When seconds count, the police are only 30 long minutes away.

  38. Can someone explain why this clown is using the caduceus [κηρύκειον kērukeion] – an ancient Greek symbol representing trickery, thieves, and alchemy – to promote his inane diatribe? The correct medical symbol is the Rod of Asclepius: one snake, no wings.

    One snake or two, snakes don’t make good political advertising.

  39. Weisser is delusional. White middle aged males are now becoming the minority among gun owners. The majority that work at and use gun ranges are under 30. The shooting sports are expanding among many minority groups. The girl who cuts my hair is under 25 and a avid target shooter.

  40. I am not trying to be insensitive but does this guy have some form of mental retardation? The same kind most hoplophobes have, you know the one where they make irrational connections between facts. Everyday I wake up and take a leak, and everyday my family isn’t brutally murdered, ergo taking a piss keeps the murderers away.

  41. So, “Mike the (not) Gun Guy” is equivalent to Clown Shoes.

    They look like they fill a need, but due to being so dramatically large, floppy and basically looking like one is walking around in over-sized flippers you can easily determine they are useless…………except to the clown wearing them.

    That clown is the Anti-2nd crowd. They need useless, floppy dramatic people to fill their roster. Otherwise, they would have nothing because they sure as hell don’t recruit those using logic, stats and common sense.

  42. I don’t think the “Gun-Guy” has really thought through the long term demographics.

    Consider…… McDonald vs. Chicago and what that’s going to mean in a generation or two.

  43. I called him out on HuffPo about his owning and operating the National Medical Council on Gun Violence. He admitted he owns it. However, he denies ever having ANY affiliation with Evolve or Evolve Together. Except he has an editorial over at Daily Kos where he admits to being a member of Evolve.
    He also says NMCGV is his baby. I’m curious as to how a failed gunstore owner comes up with the kind of scratch and clout to host a national conference.
    I suspect someone with bigger pockets is using him as a windup doll. Bloomberg?

  44. Not a single person wearing orange in my offices this morning. Which is pretty sad for the ‘movement’ given I am surrounded by liberal progressives on all sides.

    I think I’ll wander about and ask if anyone knows what is special about today (June 2).

    • Same here. I work in the Prog stronghold of Philly. Was looking for orange shirts on the way in. Didn’t see any.

  45. Tell you what Farago. I’ll meet you any place, any time, in a venue and before an audience of your choice to debate about guns, any gun topic at all.

    After all, why shouldn’t two Jewish vitriol merchants have a face-to-face go at each other?

  46. What’s funny is how this dude says that millenials are anti gun. I’m 21, a millennial, and I am absolutely PRO GUN. As are the rest of my millennial friends. The only anti gun people I know, are my parents. Literally EVERYBODY else I know is pro gun.

    And I myself have convinced many people who don’t know much about guns to BECOME pro gun. While in highschool I probably changed the beliefs of at least a dozen friends of mine to be very pro gun, just by taking them shooting!

    And people who say minorities aren’t pro gun are full of hot air too. All of my Mexican coworkers in highschool loved guns, and went shooting more than me lol.

    Teach a millennial to shoot, like I have, and they’ll never vote against guns again.

    I bought an ak as soon as I turned 18. God I love this Nation!!

  49. Went out today. Saw very little orange and all likely coincidental, since it wasn’t being displayed prominently. No one cares.

    Also very fitting for them to pick the color of prison inmates, since they’re in a race to see who can enslave themselves to the State the fastest.

  50. The NRA should organize a national open carry day. States without open carry could carry blue guns or something.

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