Thursday, July 31, 2014

How to Make Friends and Influence People ... and Drive Them Away

So this new video from Michael Bloomberg's "Everytown for Gun Safety" group has been making the rounds.  If you haven't seen it yet, take 30 seconds and watch it:
What did you think?

If you're like most people, you were secretly (or maybe not-so-secretly) hoping that the woman would pull out her own gun and confront the enraged ex.

Y'know, like in that Glock ad.

The thought that, "someone ought to pass a law preventing this," was not at the forefront of your mind.  You wouldn't be alone, either; even the usually-so-"Progressive"-it-hurts ladies hosting The View didn't have that reaction.

When your "Progressive" cause has lost The View....

Everytown's video fails for a lot of reasons, but if you ask me, it fails because the facts are out there, and most people by now, regardless of their political leanings, realize that:
  • A restraining order (RO) or temporary protection order (TPO) is just a piece of paper, and won't stop a determined attacker; and,
  • Dialing 911 is great, but in the heat of the moment, you are your own first responder; and,
  • Most women (not all, but most) can't physically overcome a man if it comes to fisticuffs, and a firearm is a force-equalizer; and,
  • Existing laws fail to stop this -- people sanctioned under ROs and TPOs (like the angry ex in the video) are already "prohibited persons" in the eyes of the law (i.e. he's already a criminal by having that gun); and,
  • If existing laws fail to stop this, then no additional laws proposed by Everytown would have a chance.
In addition, the title itself, "Will You Stop This?", is meaningless.  No amount of activism will prevent -- let alone stop -- an attack like this, and neither will any amount of funding from Bloomberg.

And finally, when your audience's visceral reaction to the appearance of a firearm in the estranged ex's hand is to hope and pray for another one to appear in the would-be-victim's hands, you've lost the message.

I'd encourage some polite commentary on the Everytown YouTube channel, but I notice that "Comments are disabled for this video."  Do you think maybe they dislike it when anyone refutes them?

(Hat tip to Sebastian over at Shall Not Be Questioned)

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