Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Americans have been buying guns in record numbers since March of this year, with no signs of a slowdown in sight. What better time, then, for gun control groups to beclown themselves by demanding that firearm retailers “pause” selling firearms for a little while?
Yesterday in New Jersey, a hunter was killed in an unintentional shooting incident.
This time of year, we typically see a 50% spike in unintentional shootings. That’s why we’re urging sporting retailers to take action.
Send a message: PAUSE GUN SALES!https://t.co/zhcJDrEvPN
— Guns Down America (@GunsDownAmerica) December 9, 2020
While the anti-gun group is using this tragic story from New Jersey to push their latest gun control scheme, in truth they don’t give a damn about the 38-year old who passed away or the fact that virtually no details have been released other than the fact that he was found with a fatal gunshot wound.
Actually, I don’t even believe that Guns Down America is serious about asking retailers to stop the sale of firearms and ammunition over the holidays. See that link in the anti-gun group’s tweet? If you click on it, it takes you to this page, which in turn asks readers to provide the group with their name, email, and phone number.
They’re harvesting information for their mailing list, in other words, not “sending a message” to anyone.
So who’s behind Guns Down America? The organization bills itself as a “a bolder, broader movement calling for dramatically fewer guns in America,” but it seems to exist mainly to provide anti-gun activist Igor Volsky with a job. The group doesn’t formally lobby legislators or members of Congress and isn’t involved in litigation efforts. Instead, according to the group’s website, GDA:
is activating influential voices outside of the legislative arena to help build safer communities with fewer guns. Borrowing a page from the successful marriage equality movement, GDA is engaging corporations to weaken the gun industry and its lobby, create cultural change around the gun issue, and build surprising political coalitions that can actually pave the way for the bold legislative reforms we need to truly save lives.
How successful are they? Well, the group claims they “forced” FedEx to stop providing discounts to NRA members, but FedEx itself says the NRA was more than 100 organizations dropped from its affiliate program because they “did not bring in enough shipping volume to warrant its participation in the program” (the company also allowed NRA members who were a part of the affiliate program to continue to receive the discount).
The organization, which lists as its headquarters a Washington, D.C. address that is actually a WeWork shared office space, is small enough to operate largely under the radar. With just three employees named on their website, Guns Down America largely serves as a vehicle for Igor Volsky, who as recently as 2019 was listed as a vice-president at the lefty think tank Center for American Progress, and whose president, Neera Tanden, was recently named by Joe Biden to run the Office of Management and Budget. Before that Volsky worked at the website Think Progress. Volsky promotes himself as much as he does the anti-gun organization that he founded, as is evident in the Ask Me Anything that Volsky did on Reddit last year while promoting his book (also called “Guns Down”).
Seriously, go scroll through the thread when you have a few minutes to amuse yourself.
It’s pretty clear that Volsky is a gun control grifter. Oh, I have no doubt he’s sincere in his belief that we should have fewer guns in this country and that legally purchasing a gun should be much more restrictive than it is right now. The organization he founded back in 2016, however, doesn’t seem to actually do much other than use social media to promote themselves and look for donors. When FedEx ends its affiliate program with the NRA, or Walmart decides to stop selling guns and ammunition in many stores, Guns Down America is quick to take credit even when they had little or nothing to do with the decision.
“Our campaigns made a difference,” they claim, and undoubtably some gullible anti-gunners will believe them. Well, if Guns Down America is such a powerhouse, let’s see how many firearm retailers take them up on their demand to halt gun and ammunition sales until the new year.
My guess is exactly zero gun stores will join Volsky in his quest, but as long as he collects a few names and email addresses he’ll view Guns Down America’s latest campaign as a success. Besides, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and Volsky can always run a new pitch asking people sign up and demand that retailers stop gun sales around that holiday as well.
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Cam Edwards has covered the 2nd Amendment for more than 15 years as a broadcast and online journalist, as well as the co-author of "Heavy Lifting: Grow Up, Get a Job, Start a Family, and Other Manly Advice" with Jim Geraghty. He lives outside of Farmville, Virginia with his family.
https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2020/12/09/gun-control-grifters-retailer-pause-sales/