By Heather Marchese, 1 Million Moms Against Gun Control
In a recent article in the Huffington Post Josh Horowitz, the Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, called the open carry movement in Texas and statements made by the fringe group Open Carry Tarrant County leader Kory Watkins, “terrorism.”
By making those remarks Mr. Horowitz has demeaned the victims of true acts of terrorism by equating the burning death of a Jordanian pilot or the deaths of 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001, to a loudmouth member of a fringe open carry group making inane statements on the internet.
For those who are unaware; the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence is not about, nor has it ever been about, stopping gun violence.
The organization’s original name was the Coalition to Ban Handguns, only changing its name when Mr. Horowitz and others decided that banning handguns wasn’t enough and decided that Americans shouldn’t have rifles either.
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence contends that nobody should be allowed to own any kind of firearm and actively works towards that end to the point of their members advocating for the deaths of anyone who disagrees with them, oftentimes with the administrators of the page “Liking” those types of comments.
Some comments which gathered dozens of “Likes” on the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Facebook page in relation to this story were incredibly violent:
“Hope somebody blows your damn head off punkass…preferably a toddler, you freak…”
“Drone the domestic terrorist.”
“The biggest fear anyone should have about Kory Watkins is if he’ll attempt a reach-around if he tries to dry-hump your leg…”
“For example this Kory Watkins, his face popped up on pictures frequently before and after his threat-video. These are the ones you have to take out…”
“Put that whole bunch of morons on a farm and send in the National Guard. There’s anothe WAKO (sic) coming folks ……”
These comments were just from one Facebook post on their page. Just one.
If you were to peruse just a week’s worth of postings you will find these statements to be a recurring theme to CSGV supporters. As a word of warning to readers who may wish to visit the page to see this phenomenon for themselves, be advised that the sheer volume of violence advocated coupled with the most disgusting sexual references and homophobic slurs are the norm. It is not a page you would want to expose your children to unless you want them to have a very graphic education in violent sexual acts.
I believe an appropriate response to Mr. Horowitz’ bluster and bloviating would be, “Physician heal thyself.” When the members of your organization are calling for the outright murder of those they disagree with, to the point of killing off the 100 million Americans who choose to own firearms, coupled with descriptions of sexual acts they would like to see performed upon firearm owners that one couldn’t find acted out in the world of internet pornography, perhaps a little self-reflection might be in order. Glass houses and stones and all that.
Mr. Horowitz also appears to be in need of some basic education on the law as it pertains to terrorism.
Telling a politician that if they continue to strip away rights guaranteed within the Bill of Rights is treason and punishable by death is definitely not a smart thing to say, but it is not terrorism. One can even make the case for Mr. Watkins’ statements to be considered a “terroristic threat” under Texas law, but it is not “domestic terrorism.” Timothy McVeigh engaged in domestic terrorism. The Sovereign Citizen movement engages in domestic terrorism. The Tsarnievs’ engaged in domestic terrorism. Kory Watkins ran his mouth.
Let me reiterate this point: Stupidity is not terrorism. It is stupidity, nothing more and nothing less. Do I agree with Mr. Watkins’ statements? Of course not. We have a legal framework in which to operate within in order to petition our government to redress grievances. If a legislator seeks to restrict the Bill of Rights to apply to only people they approve of then the correct course of action is to work to vote them out. That tactic works well as can be seen in the midterm election results which saw around 90% of all gun control candidates soundly defeated.
Hinting at politicians committing “treason” when you don’t grasp the concept of treason, and pointing out the penalty for treason is death is boneheaded at best and a misdemeanor offense at worst (which doesn’t even carry a prison sentence), but it is not domestic terrorism.
Kory Watkins is an embarrassment to the vast majority of firearm owners. He drags businesses into political debates providing targets for gun control groups to harass. He is doing more to advance the cause of gun control than Michael Bloomberg is with his billions of dollars and his astroturf Moms. From his public persona he appears to be a blowhard enjoying his 15 minutes of fame for running an organization that has more in common with Johnny Knoxville’s “Jackass” than a serious 2nd Amendment rights group. One thing he is not is a domestic terrorist, nor is his small group of followers.
Then again- if we choose to apply the standards set by Mr. Horowitz when he refers to a tiny fringe movement, shouldn’t those same standards that he set apply to his multimillion dollar Bloomberg funded organization with tens of thousands of members who are screaming for the blood of every American gun owner as well as their families?
To paraphrase Mr. Horowitz: Perhaps it is time to start taking these people at their word when they tell us they are preparing to kill us. They mean it, and they are willing to use the full force and might of the police and military to ensure our extermination. The threat here is real — and bloodshed will be the inevitable result if individuals like Horowitz are coddled by authorities and treated as engaging in legitimate, democratic debate. They are not.