The Pink Pistols are an LGBTQ gun rights organization in the United States and Canada. Their motto is "Pick on someone your own

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore matc ...

History

Inspired by a Salon.com article written by

Jonathan Rauch Jonathan Charles Rauch (; born April 26, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and activist. After graduating from Yale University, Rauch worked at the ''Winston-Salem Journal'' in North Carolina, for ''National Journal'', and later for ''The ...

, Krikket (aka Doug Krick), a

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

activist from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

while living in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, founded the Pink Pistols in July 2000. The organization had at least 45 chapters, as of October 2014. Those chapters are located in 33 states and three countries that are principally made up of gun-owning

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

individuals, though neither status is mandatory for membership. The political orientation of the Pink Pistols is considered unusual due to the popular perception in the United States of firearms ownership as a " conservative issue" and sexuality as a " liberal issue". However, there is nothing within either of these two

single issue Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea. Political expression One weakness of such an approach is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of faction ...

s that is mutually exclusive and a variety of other pro-gun organizations exist for groups not typically associated with gun rights (for example, the "Democrats for the Second Amendment"). Pink Pistols' activities include

firing range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by militar ...

visits and

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range ...

. The group occasionally produces report cards on politicians, rating their position on issues of interest to members. According to pinkpistols.org: The Pink Pistols' symbol consists of an overhead view of a picto-person aiming a

handgun A handgun is a short-barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ag ...

in an isosceles stance superimposed on a

pink triangle A pink triangle has been a symbol for the LGBTQ+ community, initially intended as a badge of shame, but later reclaimed as a positive symbol of self-identity and love for queerness. In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, it began as one of the ...

. The pink triangle, now a

gay pride LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to s ...

and

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , ...

symbol, was originally a

badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and ...

that homosexual

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

victims were forced to wear during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. According to spokesperson Gwen Patton, "We don't want people to hurt us, we want people to run away from us, and the best way we have found to do that is to be armed." Patton has also stated that, "the Pink Pistols tend to get a better response from firearms supporters than from homosexuals". The group's membership increased from 1,500 to 4,500 in the week after the 2016

Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a ...

. As of June 24, 2016, the membership is over 7,000, and there are 36 chapters around the country. The group experienced a further rise in interest following

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's election to the presidency later that year. By April 2017, the group claimed a membership of over 9,000. On September 23, 2018, trans woman Erin Palette became the new president of the Pink Pistols. On October 19, 2018, Pink Pistols founder Doug "Krikket" Krick killed himself with a gun. In January 2020, winner of Season 4 of the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

show

Top Shot ''Top Shot'' is an American reality television show that debuted on the History Channel on June 6, 2010. In the show, 16 contestants, split into two teams of eight, compete in various types of shooting challenges. One by one, the contestants are ...

Chris Cheng Chris Cheng (born December 14, 1979 in Mission Viejo, California) is an American sport shooter and The History Channel's ''Top Shot'' Season 4 Champion. In 2012, along with the title of "Top Shot", Cheng won a $100,000 cash prize and a professi ...

(the first openly gay man to win the contest), joined the Board of Directors of Operation Blazing Sword/Pink Pistols (two gun rights-LGBT organizations that merged in 2018).

References

External links

* * Murdock, Deroy.
"Coming Out of the Closet: These guys won’t be victims"
''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...

'' (July 1, 2002), via Archive.org {{Gun politics interest groups in the United States Gun rights advocacy groups in the United States LGBT political advocacy groups in the United States Organizations established in 2000 Self-defense Libertarian organizations based in the United States 2000 establishments in the United States

History

See also

References

External links