By Dave Workman | Senior Editor
Kevin Dixie
The Second Amendment is both color- and gender-blind, and expanding gun rights into the LGBTQ and minority communities is an important mission for activists.
That was the basic message of a panel at the Gun Rights Policy Conference that talked about reaching what heretofore might have been considered a very non-traditional segment of shooters and gun owners. Not so anymore, as panelists lined up to deliver eye-opening and thought-provoking reports.
Kevin Dixie, owner-operator of No Other Choice Firearms Training and founder of “Aiming for the Truth,” was blunt: “I don’t need anybody to tell me what’s wrong. I need people to help me fix what’s wrong.”
The St. Louis, MO resident said “we clearly have common ground.”
He challenged the audience to address the issues that cause violence, such as fatherless households, and the value of that is immeasurable. His group deals with education and mental health issues, and he tells people that his program is not about guns but about helping fellow Americans.
He also urged people to stop talking politics, because it loses people. Instead, talk about policies.
“When it comes to people like me,” he said, “I need some action.”
Rick Ector
Rick Ector, founder of Legally Armed in Detroit, was next at the microphone. He told a story about a woman who was brutally murdered, and that ignited his activism.
“I wanted to do something,” Ector said, and thus he started an effort to train women in the use of firearms for personal protection. At the first event a few years ago, 50 women showed up. That number steadily expanded, and last year, Ector was able to train 800 women.
“Next year,” he said, “we want to train 1,000 women.”
He admitted this is an ambitious goal, but he’s going to stick with it. The program is free, with donated ammunition, volunteer instructors, and plenty of hands-on.
“Even if you can’t see the finish line,” he counseled, “just get started…The key thin g is just to keep going.”
Rhonda Ezell
Rhonda Ezell, plaintiff in the famous Ezell v. City of Chicago case and Illinois delegate to the D.C. Project for women, is president and co-founder of Chicago Guns Matter.
“Our government is hell bent on taking away our constitutional rights,” she contended.
Ezell decried policies designed to restrict the rights of minorities to own firearms. A life-long resident of Chicago, she said the total ban on gun ownership for more than three decades was a learning experience, and now that their rights have been restored, their job is to move gun rights forward for Windy City residents.
People are getting involved in protecting their families and loved ones. She suggested becoming a trainer, and passing along the tradition to the next generation of shooters.
“We are responsible for our own safety,” Ezell observed. “Let’s not outsource our safety to the United States government.”
She also encouraged activists to find people to help build gun ranges where people need them.
“Today is a new day,” Ezell said. “Women are now leading the fight in the gun rights movement.”
Erin Palette
Erin Pallette, head of Operation Blazing Sword and the national coordinator of the Pink Pistols, called herself a “single-issue activist, and that single issue is the Second Amendment.’
“Without that right, all other rights are meaningless,” Pallette said.
Estimating that 90 million American gun owners aren’t represented by pro-gun groups, Pallette said the anti-gun message must be stopped before it reaches the president’s ears.
Palette encouraged gun owners to give up their partisanship because it may be a turn-off to other gun owners with different political views about other issues. The goal is to create a single-issue voting bloc.
To accomplish this, create a dialogue with people who may disagree politically.
“To do otherwise means we are letting ideology stand in the way of true Second Amendment activism,” Pallette said. “Reach out to everyone you know…Make the Second Amendment American again.”
Piper Smith
Piper Smith, founder and director of Armed Equality, said her activism began after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla. She set out to help others in the LGBTQ community, to help them become hard targets rather than soft targets.
She works with national, state and local leaderships in the Second Amendment community. Smith said the success of her work so far has been better than anticipated.
“We all seem to logically know that we need all the allies we can possibly get to protect the Second Amendment,” Smith said. “I believe that we are not in a position to be exclusionary to non-traditional gun owners.”
Smith maintained that the most powerful argument in support of gun rights is based on morality. Being inclusive in fight for civil rights is the right thing to do, she said.
“I believe it is the moral thing to do,” Smith stated. “When it comes to fighting for out civil rights, we need to leave the hyper partisanship at the door.
“Everybody in this room knows that armed equality is real equality,” she continued. “Stop tripping and shoving each other, stop mocking new folks…focus on being truly inclusive and persuasive…At the end of the day let’s all work together to save lives and protect our natural rights.”
Nikki Stollard
Bringing up the rear was Nikki Stollard with the California Pink Pistols. Their motto is “Armed Gays Don’t Get Bashed.” However, she used the conference appearance to resign from Pink Pistols and Operation Blazing Sword.
Saying that “the First Amendment is under siege,” Stollard declared, “I refuse to be silenced!”
Stollard talked about “the good, the bad and the ugly.” She said dealing with conservatives has taught her that they’re “far more tolerant and open-minded than the tolerant left.”
Asserting that those on the political left “seek to destroy what’s left of our republic,” Stollard warned that logic will lose to emotion every time and that “fear is a powerful emotion.”
“When people are scared they will surrender other people’s rights,” Stollard observed. “Ignorance, misinformation and fear; that’s what our foes use against us.”
The way to win, Stollard said, “is to embrace change. Leave our comfort zones. Become adaptable. Bring the fight to them.”
“The real single issue that unites us more than guns is freedom,” Stollard said.
