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.

"A Small Price to Pay"

During a day in which a horrific school shooting occurred at Chardon High School in Ohio—leaving three students dead and two injured—pro-gun activist John K. Haslach of Dunellen, New Jersey left the following comment on the National Gun Victims Action Council (NGAC) Facebook page:

A dead child is a small price to pay to protect our 2nd A rights to stop unjust laws and keep out forgeign invaders!

Haslach wasn't the only pro-gun activist on the attack following the shooting. Hank Fackovec of Woburn, Massachusetts left the following comment on the Facebook wall of Students for Gun Free Schools (SGFS):

People and organizations like SFGFS are responsible for these injured and dead children - If there was an armed teacher - the horror could have been prevented or minimized. Shame on you.

SGFS is an organization that was created to honor Reema Samaha, one of the victims of the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech. "In order to keep her memory alive and try to prevent future tragedies, our mission opposes efforts to allow guns in our schools," SGFS states. The organization's founders include Omar and Randa Samaha, Reema's siblings; Lily Habtu, who was shot in the face and arm at Virginia Tech; and Colin Goddard, who was shot four times during the massacre. The notion that they are responsible for what happened at Chardon High School is beyond the pale. It is equally horrific to suggest that the answer to school shootings is to arm K-12 teachers and instruct them to gun down troubled teens rather than giving them the support and counseling they truly need.

Linda Gaither of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship in Ithaca, New York also became a target of pro-gun activists when she urged Starbucks to reconsider its policy allowing loaded guns in its stores following the Ohio tragedy. Pro-gun activist Devon Siefried of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania lashed into her, writing:

Dance in that blood, Linda. Dance in the blood. You're disgusting.

This horrifying "dance in the blood" rhetoric is, sadly, common among pro-gun activists. Frequently, it is directed at individuals who have lost their loved ones to gun violence. Yesterday, Andrew Johnston (AKA “Weer’d Beard”), who has been mentioned at this blog before, attacked Joan Peterson in a blog entitled, "Blood Dancing 101." Joan lost her sister Barbara in 1992 to gun homicide. In the blog, Johnston claims that Joan and others who advocate for stronger gun laws to prevent tragedies...

...talk about dead victims with zero concern for their situation. This is called “Blood Dancing” and they SHOULD be ashamed of it, but they are not. Are they insane? Yes, yes they are!

Finally, Joan received the following comment from a pro-gun activist Dan Roberts (AKA "Son of the Revolution") at her blog "Common Gunsense." Roberts was responding to a blog Joan posted reagarding the shooting at Chardon High School, in which she wrote, "We can pass more gun laws and we should. Making parents responsible for children getting their hands on guns would help. 28 states have some form of Child Access Prevention laws. Laws requiring mandatory reporting of lost and stolen guns may stop gun owners from being careless with their guns. Safely storing guns should be of utmost importance to keep guns away from the hands of children and teens as well as theft. Guns in the hands of children must first pass through the hands of an adult." Roberts saw this as an opportunity to boast about his six-year-old daughter's proficiency with a bow and gun.

He left a hyperlink that goes to his blog "That Every Man Be Armed" and a piece he wrote entitled, "The Next Top Shot." There he says of his daughter, "I started drilling her on gun safety when she was three. She then moved to trigger time on my lap with my 10/22 by age four, by five she could correctly name all the parts and almost completely reassemble my Ruger .45 by herself and she got her own pink Cricket Bolt Action .22 for her sixth birthday."

Meanwhile, the United States continues to lose more than 3,000 children and teens annually to gun violence.