Out for Liberty, an LGBT Libertarian Nevada group, is offering free multi-week courses to train for a concealed carry permit to anyone working in the LGBT nightclub scene in Las Vegas in an effort to prevent another massacre like the one at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
“Out for Liberty visited nine gay bars around Las Vegas Tuesday night, passing out fliers raising awareness about the importance of gay bartenders being armed,” KTNV ABC 13 Action News reports.
In Florida only bar security can be legally armed, according to KTNV, while in Nevada “general bar staff is allowed to have a gun behind the bar.”
Derek Washington of Get Equal Nevada, a gay-rights group, commented that he and his gay peers are “always under attack” and urged his peers to arm themselves in self-defense. Pink Pistols, a gay gun-rights group, released a comment Sunday reminding the media and the public to “not reach for the low-hanging fruit of blaming the killer’s guns. Let us stay focused on the fact that someone hated gay people so much they were ready to kill or injure so many.”
One bar in Las Vegas is taking advantage of the opportunity. Bartenders at Flex “heard about the class on social media and expressed interest in taking part in it,” according to general manager Todd Tauber.
Armed Gays Don’t Get Bashed #Pulse#Orlandopic.twitter.com/pAewvZOoeb
— Sebastiano (@SebastiaNavarra) June 12, 2016