Now that the intentionally misnamed "Million Mom March" (the "One-Hundred-Thousand-or-so Mom March" is more accurate) and the media hype surrounding it are behind us, it is important to take stock of some of the recent statements and allegations made by some march organizers and supporters to help see the true goals and intentions of their lobbying campaign. While many marchers will continue to focus on politics and Public Relations (P/R), we welcome those moms, and all others who truly wish to work in support of solutions to reduce gun injuries and fatalities, to join us in our ongoing campaign to promote firearms safety education and full enforcement of existing laws against violent criminals. Here are just some of the more outrageous and/or incorrect statements that we feel obligated to bring to light, along with some actual facts: On NRA's efforts to promote gun safety: "...I want my children to go to school to learn how to read, write and arithmetic (sic). And I think it's absolutely absurd that now we're going to, like, put gun safety so that they can look and fondle and feel guns. It just seems to me like a very brilliant recruiting campaign by the National Rifle Association. And I just want to say that, you know, I saw a really fabulous sign this morning. It said: ‘NRA stands for Not Relevant Anymore.' And I want to tell you now that we moms are here, this is going to be a whole different debate." -- March organizer, Donna Dees-Thomases on NBC's "Meet the Press"(5/14)
"[T]o help children understand what the guns are all about isn't my idea of good education. There are too many guns in this country." -- U.S. Representative Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) on "CNN Sunday" (5/14) "I really wouldn't trust anything that the leadership of NRA has to do with the education of guns." -- Dees-Thomases on CBS's "Face the Nation" (5/14)
"Of course, Charlton Heston can sit on a commercial and say ‘We're going to give a million dollars.' They're a six billion dollar industry." -- Rosie O'Donnell on ABC's "This Week" (5/14) The Facts:
"Licensing and registration is the first place to start." -- Dees-Thomases on CBS's "Face the Nation" (5/14)
"When people hear the word ‘gun control' (sic), they sort of back up a little bit. But when you talk about licensing and registration, they say, ‘[of course] we should license our gun owners and we should register their handguns." -- Mary Leigh Blek, President of the Bell Campaign on "CNN Sunday" ( 5/14) (Editor's note: Blek has just been tapped to lead the "Million Mom March's" "political activism & community outreach efforts" for the coming year) "Well, education is not a substitute for registration and for sensible gun legislation. It is not a substitute." -- O'Donnell on ABC's "This Week" (5/14) The Facts: Clearly the supporters of the March are far more interested in playing politics, grabbing the P/R spotlight, and promoting attacks on law-abiding, responsible gun owners than they are with tackling violent crime or teaching children how to be safe. Criminals simply will not register their firearms. Despite proponents like O'Donnell's claims that licensing and registration are "common sense" or "modest," gun owners know that the proposals lead to only one result -- gun confiscation. Perhaps O'Donnell would understand this better if she had to obtain a government license for her TV show or movies, or if her scripts had to be subjected to a government-mandated waiting period and review. On who's to blame for gun violence:
"We've got to stop it and we've got to say to the gun manufacturers, make our guns safe. We've got to say to the NRA, stop lobbying Congress to make it unsafe." -- Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D-Md.) on "CNN Sunday Morning" (5/14) "The NRA is buying votes with blood money." -- O'Donnell speaking at the march (5/14) "[W]e have easy access to weapons and we have no responsibility for a gun industry that is causing havoc on American society." -- O'Donnell on ABC's "This Week" (5/14) "[B]ut the fact is, most of the guns that are [purchased] at gun shows [don't] have the checks we have in stores." -- O'Donnell on ABC's "This Week" (5/14) The Facts: When it comes to violent crime, as usual, anti-gun activists blame law-abiding gun owners, lawful gun manufacturers, and NRA -- not the criminals who commit the crimes or the failed criminal justice system that fails to keep violent, predatory criminals behind bars. Enforcing existing laws works, but rabid extremists like O'Donnell, who once implied all gun owners should be put in jail, simply cannot see beyond their hatred of firearms and the law-abiding citizens who choose to own them. On whether the march organizer was a Clinton ally: (Responding to Tim Russert's question of whether she coordinated ideas with the White House) "With no one at the White House, but I did consult w/ Handgun Control, Inc., the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, PAX States United and the Bell Campaign, which is our fiscal sponsor." (emphasis added) -- Dees-Thomases on "Meet the Press" (5/14) The Facts: In addition to working for at least one U.S. Senator, Dees-Thomases also served as Dan Rather's publicist, and now serves in that position for David Letterman. Hardly a typical, non-political housewife. She is also the sister-in-law of Hillary Clinton ally and lawyer Susan Thomases. March organizers would do well to keep in mind that while the same Bill of Rights that protects our RTKBA protects and guarantees the marchers' rights to assemble and speak their minds, no right exists to mis-state the truth or to blame NRA and lawful gun owners for the acts of criminals.
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