A Rather Unflattering Profile of The Pink Pistols

Philadelphia Weekly: The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight The Pink Pistols ("Pick on Someone Your Own Caliber") is a group dedicated to the idea of lawful self-defense. They are mostly active among gay, lesbian and transgendered folks - those folks normally targeted by your average urban goblin. In other words, one of the groups that could most benefit from armed self-defense. (In all fairness I must mention that some members are straight, since the Pistols don't discriminate. "It's OK if your straight; we'll still love you.")

The Pink Pistols was started in response to an article.

Thirty-one states allow all qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. In those states, homosexuals should embark on organized efforts to become comfortable with guns, learn to use them safely and carry them. They should set up Pink Pistols task forces, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry. And they should do it in a way that gets as much publicity as possible.

--Jonathan Rauch, Salon Magazine, March 13, 2000

The Leftist politicos don't like it, because they want to blame guns for everything, and "an oppressed" group advocating individual action and responsibility flies in the face of what good statists want. This is especially true in Pennsylvania.

A lot of gays and lesbians aren't too happy with the Pink Pistols either. When setting up a table at a gay pride rally, they had some "words" with people at a neighboring table.

"I don't want my child to be in danger because of your guns," someone barked at Patton, she says.

Still the author can't help but include some interesting anecdotes.

More than a decade ago, on a hot summer night, Greene [one of the members of the local chapter] was returning to his car after a night of partying at a Center City leather bar. Sporting a black leather vest, white T-shirt, jeans and leather boots, he headed east from 13th Street toward his car, which was parked in Queen Village.

A few blocks into his journey, four young adults began following him.

"Hey faggot!" Greene says the teens yelled.

Greene picked up the pace. He turned around at one point and saw that each of the thugs was waving a metal pipe as they continued barking at him.

When Greene, who says he hadn't been drinking, finally arrived at his car, he reached into his pocket, pulled out his five-shot Smith & Wesson revolver, and aimed it at the hooligans.

"Holy shit! He's got a gun!" Greene says the one of the teens yelled.

Then they ran off.

Successful self-defense with a firearm. No rounds were fired, but what is more important is that no one was hurt. The police would only have been able to get there after the fact and scrape him off the sidewalk.

The Pink Pistols is a group that turns everyone's stereotyped ideas on their heads.

Many of the Pink Pistols revel in their ability to live in two worlds that seem so ideologically divergent: the gun-loving NRA crowd and the queer community.

And the NRA crowd isn't always the toughest of the two to get along with. Oh, there are the usual quota of idiots in the gun community, but the gay community has its share as well. More than its share to tell the truth.

"They assume all of us must be Republicans," says Gwen Patton, the international media spokesperson for the group and head of the Delaware Valley chapter. "Some of us love Bush, but that's a whole different agenda."

She deliberately pauses for a moment.

"And yes," she says with a wry expression, "I meant that as a double entendre."

Actually bits of the article are excellent, but the tone is not-quite-negative, as if the author couldn't decide if he hated guns, or supported the gay community.

I'll give the last word to one of the members profiled.

To become a Pink Pistol, you simply declare yourself a Pink Pistol, Patton says. There are no registration forms, no roll call, no mandatory obligations or regular dues.

"Keep your money," she orders. "Get training. Get a weapon."

You can join the group for lunch and then fire off a few rounds at the range whenever you want, Patton says. Everyone is welcome.

"Being a Pink Pistol means you've decided to take responsibility for your own safety," she says. "I'm basically a nice, gentle person. But if they try to harm me or her ... "

She turns toward Leber, her partner.

"I will shoot them."

[Hat tip Keep and Bear Arms]