Pro-Gun Activist on Trayvon Shooting Range Targets: "GOOD! MAYBE MORE PEOPLE WON'T MISS!"

Ever since Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by concealed handgun permit holder George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) has been deluged with emails from pro-gun activists celebrating the teen's death. We have previously posted these comments here, here, here, here and here. Here's the latest batch...

When CSGV posted an article at our Facebook page about Trayvon Martin shooting range targets being sold online, pro-gun activist Jeff Robinson commented, "LOL.. GOOD! MAYBE MORE PEOPLE WON'T MISS!"

Despite the fact that the Sanford Police Department made it clear that "There is no indication that Trayvon Martin was involved in any criminal activity at the time of the encounter [with Zimmerman]," pro-gun activist Ken Soderstrom of Greenville, North Carolina Tweeted at us, "who went 2 the store to buy Skittles & iced tea and case the neighborhood?"

And Soderstorm wasn't done. He later Tweeted at us, "How much damage would have been done if Trayvon hadn't been killed? We shouldn't expect ANYONE to find out."

Ryan Webman of Aventura, Florida was another pro-gunner who checked into our Facebook page to celebrate Trayvon's death. "Who cares" that Florida's concealed handgun permitting system didn't know that George Zimmerman was on anti-anxiety medication, he wrote, "he took another criminal off the streets!!! Good for him."

Pro-gun activist Eric Sharples of Daytona Beach, Florida was equally blunt, writing on our Facebook page, "How is it gun violence when the man was attacked by the gangster wankster, he wasn't some small young boy that was just skipping down the ghetto streets singing and laughing with his skittles that he probably stole anyways. If you see any recent pictures of him, hes tall, hes built, he flips off the camera to look like a hardass. He clearly wants people to think hes a tough guy, well... Look where that tough guy shit gets you. The more tough guys, the more gun violence. May you should start another useless coalition called, The Coalition to Stop Tough Guys. Fuggin idiots. If anything, YOU are keeping this issue alive. YOU are keeping racism alive and well. Dont put up this innocent front to spread your hate. Dont martyr this kid, how fucked up is that. Youre using, I repeat, YOU are USING this kids death to gain attention and popularity for your useless cause that will never go into affect. Guns don't cause these problems, people do. What if we had swords instead of guns, would you try to outlaw spears and guns. How would you defend yourself, how would you hunt? Your ideas are pointless and will solve nothing. If people want to kill other people, theyre going to regardless of what weapon they are allowed to have. Dumb people are holding back the process of evolution, so either evolve of shut the fuck up. Outlaws spears and swords**, not guns. Now I sound like you guys lol." As it turns out, Sharples speaks from experience. His criminal record suggests he has some "gangster wankster" issues himself.

When subtle racism doesn't work, pro-gunners go with something a bit more hardcore. Pro-gunner "Sabine" took this route when he Tweeted the following at us: "Dat tall dk boy not b yelling skeered. But dat lite dude under? He b crying lika baaaby cuz he gone die 2nite iffn he don't shoot now!"

Pro-gun activists also continued to impersonate African-Americans on Facebook. One pro-gunner created the personae of Zeke Fulton, whose employer is listed as "y wrk wen u can steel stuff" and whose interests include "Hot Gay Sex," "Lil Wayne" and "Basketball." "Zeke" visited our Facebook page to comment on the District of Columbia's tough gun laws: "wow DC is keeping gunsaway frm peole is good. makin it safe for me."

Then there were a series of anonymous comments left by pro-gunners on our blogs. One commenter made it clear to us that the entire gun violence problem in the United States is the fault of African-Americans, writing, "Most perpetrators of firearms crimes ARE dis-proportionally black. The fact that this group seems to lump in 'suicide' under the auspice of 'gun violence' shows the despicable anti-constitutional rhetoric we in the firearms community have come to expect. I think perhaps you should look under the USDOJ which has shown that the Black Community is six to seven times higher in their rate of violent crime, yet groups like yours would wish the good people who need to live in those same areas to be left defenseless. You should be ashamed."

"Sporko" made a crude joke that we're still struggling to understand: "What?! That's DISGUSTING. Why would someone even SUGGEST they NOT raise their son to be a THUG? That's so fcuking racist. IT'S PART OF THE BLACK CULTURE. What's next? Asking a Chinese restaurant to start serving cheeseburgers? When will it end?! THINK OF THE CHILDREN."

In a blog we wrote about another unarmed African-American teenager who was killed by a concealed handgun permit holder in Florida, a pro-gunner commented, "Yea, kids roving around robbing people need protection. We need to stop this whole "every life is precious" bit, because not all are. If you think otherwise you're blind."

Finally, when CSGV's Ladd Everitt blogged at the website Waging Nonviolence to discuss Trayvon Martin and the NRA's "Stand Your Ground" law, a pro-gunner called "vaccuum" made his feelings about the dead young man clear: "Let's ask someone who has been killed in a fistfight what exactly 'deadly force' is. I'll be damned if my family is left without a provider because some jerk's parents didn't raise their kid right and has ALWAYS minimized his behavior as victim of some sinister plot designed BY idiots, FOR idiots."

Pro-Gun Activist Warns of "Zionist Instigators"

The linkage between pro-gun extremism and Anti-Semitism has been well documented over the decades, but it is still jarring to find modern-day examples of such bigotry. The pro-gun movement has long tried to have it both ways when it comes to this element in their ranks, on the one hand showing remarkable tolerance for the Nazi "paraphernalia" and "literature" that is a common staple at gun shows across America, while on the other disparaging proponents of gun violence prevention as Nazis and wannabe Hitlers. Two comments recently received by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) highlight this dynamic in its barest hypocrisy.

The first comment was left on a post at the CSGV Facebook Wall. A young pro-gun activist, Albert Erdmenger, had posted there to tell us that our page is "Anti-Constitutional." "I smell rebellion pretty damn soon," he warned. When we questioned Erdmenger to inquire as to whether he believes he has an individual right under the Second Amendment to shoot and kill elected officials when he senses "tyranny," another pro-gun activist, Terri Angel Fogler of Tallahassee, Florida, jumped in and left the following comment:

Albert: He's baiting you; trying to get you to say something you CLEARLY never suggested or said. That's what zionist instigators do, they're pathetically ignorant that way. The FACT that OUR Constitution gives us inalienable RIGHTS goes against the grain of his obvious agenda (i.e. Agenda 21). We have Rights and we do not have to justify nor should we have to explain it to anyone... besides, guns don't kill people; people kill people.

Fogler's comment was Liked both by Erdmenger and another pro-gun activist, Mike McCausley of North Carolina. It is unclear why Fogler believes CSGV is connected to Agenda 21, a nonbinding resolution enacted by the UN in 1992 that encouraged nations to conserve energy and protect pristine lands by steering development to areas that are already populated. But Agenda 21 has increasingly become the source of "One World Order" conspiracy theories promoted by Tea Party groups.

The second comment was Tweeted at us by Keith Milligan, an Election Volunteer Coordinator with the NRA-ILA, author of the pro-gun blog "Shall Not Be Questioned," and fixture here at Things Pro-Gun Activists Say.

When we responded to pro-gun activists on Twitter who claimed that the ownership and carrying of firearms was a "nonviolent" activity, Milligan (who goes by the pseudonym "Sebastian") reacted angrily and directed the following Tweet at us (which was also re-Tweeted by a New Jersey pro-gun activist):

The thing you should realize about @CSGV...they believe all violence is bad. They would have let Hitler finish his final solution.

CSGV is a coalition of 48 national organizations. Among our member organizations are the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Jewish Community Center Association, Jewish Women International, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Union for Reform Judaism, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and the Women's League for Conservative Judaism.

When Milligan was informed of this fact, he offered no apology, but backed up somewhat, saying, "If that is the case, I would not say they supported it, certainly, but it's a naive position. Only armed force would defeat the Nazis."

What "position" was Milligan referring to? He couldn't say, at least not by documenting any statements that CSGV or its member organizations have made, either recently or in the past. He just appeared generally enraged that some Americans would support efforts to find peaceful, nonviolent resolutions to conflicts that can lead to gun violence.

Pro-Gun Activist to African-Americans: "[Guns] for life. Fuck you monkeys."

In the wake of the slaying of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin by concealed handgun permit holder George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) has been bombarded with a series of racist messages from pro-gun activists. You can read some of these comments here, here, here, and here.

And the comments are still coming...

Responding to our previous blog on this topic, in which a pro-gun activist described the slaying of Trayvon Martin as "population control," a pro-gun activist left the following comment: "It's good that these apes can't learn how to legally register guns themselves. they just shoot each other down with unregistered guns. /k/ for life, fuck you monkeys." '/k/' is a symbol that is used by pro-gun extremists to refer to weapons, and firearms in particular, on online message boards.

When we posted a photo at the CSGV Facebook page of a pregnant African-American woman with the words "AM I NEXT?" on her stomach, we got this response from pro-gunner "Tango Down" of Boynton Beach, Florida: "If her and her husband raise the child right and raises it to be a good kid and NOT A THUG, if the raise it to respect the law and respect others as it would want to be respected. If the kid is thought right from wrong and doesnt't attempt to kill someone else then it should have no problems!"

Pro-gun activist Terry Barcus of Cheshire, Ohio was more blunt, leaving the message "zimmeman is my hero!!!!!!!!" on our Wall.

That thought was echoed by pro-gunner "LOU1011" at the U.S. News & World Report website. "LOU1011" was responding to a blog posted by CSGV executive director Josh Horwitz about NRA/ALEC "Stand Your Ground" laws entitled "Carrying a Firearm Puts the Community at Risk." "Nothing's changed here," LOU1011 wrote. "A Black thug assaulted a guy on the streets, who defended himself.One less Black thug in this world..thank you Zimmerman!"

Timothy Archetko, a pro-gun activist from Canton, New York, emailed us to tell us how happy he was that Trayvon Martin was dead. "I believe in the 2nd amendment take me off this fuckin [CSGV email] list," he wrote. "I am a concealed carry holder, my license plate is the model of my favorite assault rifle, I bought 5 guns in the past year and just bought 1000 rounds of m16 ammo, I shot hundreds of birds last season. I am glad the unarmed teen was shot he obviously shouldn't have provoked it. You hippies think you can say what you want with no consequences."

The 'N' word also remained popular with pro-gun activists. When the CSGV staff posted a cover photo on Facebook with hoods up to pay tribute to Trayvon Martin, pro-gunner Donald Attis of Halifax, Nova Scotia left two comments. The first was a threat: "BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG." The second was, "Fuck yo coalition nigga! Fuck yo coalition!"

Finally, white pro-gun activists never waste an opportunity to blame the entire gun violence problem in America on African-Americans. Pro-gunner Brandon Ashby Smith of St. Petersburg, Florida wandered by our Facebook Wall to leave the following comment: "By the way, right after Trayvon Martin was killed-- there was like 6 black people who were killed by other black people because they are too stupid to take advantage of free things from the state and they'd rather sell drugs than work."

Pro-gunner Michael Liechty was pointing the finger, too, and wrote the following on CSGV's Facebook Wall: "maybe you should talk to the black communities where most of the gun violence is taking place." The fact that this claim is patently false? Well, being off on that "truth" thing never really bothered the gun guys...