Gun Rally...

divedog said:

I had a blast and thought it was a positive peaceful protest. If there were 10,000 people parking would be a nightmare.

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Is there not another one on the 8th of Feb?

Unfortunately we did not get "good " coverage. Northwest Cable News had a sound bite from Hadan and a bit about some priest feeling sorry for us.

http://www.nwcn.com/news/washington/Guns-Across-America-rally-at-State-Capitol-today-187594431.html

Theaero, ENM

I am going to make some general statements here some of which will be aimed at you two but not all.

It appears to me that all you want to hear is what pleases you, what you are comfortable with, what you want to hear and it simply does not matter to you what others want, think or need.

ENM you got so angry about what someone said in a speech at a rally that you had to rewrite your comments on a blog several times to try not to offend people, really!!!! maybe you need to reexamine why you got angry? Listening to the thoughts of others even those that you do not agree with can be a great learning experience unless of course you dismiss everyone out of hand that you disagree with as you seem to be doing in this post. You say there were six issues that were off topic, I did not know that you were the individual that decided what was on topic and what was not for this rally.

Didier got the loudest and most positive response from the crowd, people were cheering and got fired up during Didier's speech. I fully understand that some people in the crowd may have not liked some or all of what he had to say, that is simply how it is with any thing you can not please all the people all the time.

Theaero You say that the religious stuff is dividing us into two camps because the non religious folks do not appreciate the religious references and then you turn around and say the non-religious people are, and I quote " these people are typically more respectful, open-minded, and responsible than many of the god-fearing people I have run into. ". So based on what you wrote I have to ask you which is it; "respectful and open minded" or upset with the religious stuff?

Theaero you said that you and others did not like "The first speaker kept referring to how we have these rights because of God. God gave us these rights." etc. In the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence the founding fathers referred to "Natures God" and also said "rights are endowed by their creator" So referencing a generic God, God given rights etc in the first speech is entirely appropriate, on topic and factually correct IMHO.

BTW I am not a very religious person but I respect that others are, just to be clear on that subject.

Freedom First - Great job getting people there, we also had about 15 people that made the trip from Spokane and several that came from Vancouver and B'ham. Kudos to those that took the time and spent the money to attend from great distances.

Bill Starks said it right when he said

" did I like everything I saw at the rally? NO

did I like everything I heard at the rally? NO

Overall though the rally was a success and we got some great publicity out of it."

Believe it or not, cause its hard to tell from some of the posts here and on other threads, the point of the rally was to come together in mass to show our opposition to any more limitations on our rights; not to entertain you, not to please everyone, not to show off our rifles or pistols, not to show off how bad we are, not to show the organizers & WSP "I will carry a rifle, bolt closed, mag inserted, slung anyway I like cause you cant stop me". The topic of our conversation today should be to look at what we accomplished, look at how well we did, man did we make a positive statement yesterday; not I did not like what a speaker had to say.

I would also remind you that this was free for you to attend, the speakers were not paid.

I know this is hard for some of you so I will type real slow for you. Diverse speakers will draw a diverse crowd and a diverse crowd means more people, more people gets noticed by the people that make our laws and have an effect on how they will vote for those laws that affect our rights. Trust me when I say the organizers were not taking any one individual's feelings, likes, dislikes, religious preferences into consideration when they organized this. What they were thinking was how do we get some speakers that will appeal to the most people to encourage them to come so that we can make the largest impression possible.

Several people worked very hard to put this event on, spent their own cash. Jim Beal, Bill Starks, Squeak and several others deserve a 'thank you' rather than 'I did not like this speaker or that speaker'. It takes a lot of work to put on one of these events. Most of that work you will never see or know about.

I will say it, Thanks Jim, Bill, Squeak and everyone else that came together one more time, at the last minute, to pull this off. Thank you speakers, even the ones I did not care for, for taking the time to come and support ALL of us. I apologize to the speakers, I am so sorry that some of us do not appreciate your efforts, your right to speak freely or your support for our rights.

Of course I want to hear what pleases me, the second amendment and our constitutional rights please me greatly...

I think you missed the entire gist of the post. I am Christian. I am religious, I think that we don't need to use god as a political prop at a rally for a secular issue. There are gun owners who are liberal, union, gay, democrat, etc. this needed to be focused less on "we need to return to god" and "hide your radio parts" I did not say the rally was a failure or that Deros and Squeak and Bill didn't work hard on it. I am saying that someone should've whispered to Didier and told him to get back on topic or that in the future guest speakers need to be chosen for who will defend gun rights and not preach about SHTF prepping. I did not bad mouth Jim or squeak or anyone, I made a specific complaint about a specific speaker who went way over the boundaries of what should've been pushed

I am equally angry about Freedom1man and his buddy showing up to troll the rally with their "socialist security" signs that also had nothing to do with gun rights.

Orphan,

Well said and thanks for the work to everyone that made this rally possible. I enjoyed all of the speakers I heard from in one way or another. I spoke with Mr. Didier after he spoke, mainly because I am a Washington DC native. I may not agree 100% with all of what he said I appreciate the passion he brings to our cause.

Also, a faraday cage would be just as effective in protecting a ham radio and you wouldn't have to bury it underground... Just sayin'

Scott

EMNofSeattle said:

Of course I want to hear what pleases me, the second amendment and our constitutional rights please me greatly...

I think you missed the entire gist of the post. I am Christian. I am religious, I think that we don't need to use god as a political prop at a rally for a secular issue. There are gun owners who are liberal, union, gay, democrat, etc. this needed to be focused less on "we need to return to god" and "hide your radio parts" I did not say the rally was a failure or that Deros and Squeak and Bill didn't work hard on it. I am saying that someone should've whispered to Didier and told him to get back on topic or that in the future guest speakers need to be chosen for who will defend gun rights and not preach about SHTF prepping. I did not bad mouth Jim or squeak or anyone, I made a specific complaint about a specific speaker who went way over the boundaries of what should've been pushed

I am equally angry about Freedom1man and his buddy showing up to troll the rally with their "socialist security" signs that also had nothing to do with gun rights.

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You did not read both sides of the sign, did you?

I will give you the gist of the message. Since you have allowed yourself to be numbered, those in power will take away any and all of your rights until you tell them to take their number and stuff it.

I found that the sign, yes the Socialist Security side, to be rather well received by the crowd. One person told me that the sign had appeared on her facebook page before she ever saw the sign in person.

The sides linked the fact that you are a prisoner and/or a slave by wanting/keeping the number, slaves and prisoners don't really have any recognized rights. Since those in power can make the receiving of the Socialist Security 'benefit' contingent on anything it wants you are not free. Besides if participation in the Social Security program was not voluntary then it would be in conflict with 18USC section 1584 . http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1584 http://www.lectlaw.com/def/i071.htm

Since, you like most people, believe it's not voluntary then you also believe that the government owns your labor. Since the government owns your labor then by extension the government owns you. Since the government owns you the government has the authority to take away any rights from you that it does not want you to have.

So, no, I was not trolling the event with my sign. I was proving that most pro-rights people CAN think. Most people seemed to have made the connection rather well with me having to type out a long explanation to play connect the dots for them.

I hope that you found this to be educational.

skeith5 said:

Orphan,

Well said and thanks for the work to everyone that made this rally possible. I enjoyed all of the speakers I heard from in one way or another. I spoke with Mr. Didier after he spoke, mainly because I am a Washington DC native. I may not agree 100% with all of what he said I appreciate the passion he brings to our cause.

Also, a faraday cage would be just as effective in protecting a ham radio and you wouldn't have to bury it underground... Just sayin'

Scott

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You would have to ground the antenna grounds to the cage. If you wanted to run it while shielded by a faraday cage then you would have to attach band specific filters on the antenna lines to prevent the antenna from being a source of over load.

I had a great time and was glad I was there. We had 2000 people, in one of the biggest turnouts in the nation, all peacefully assembled to talk about freedom, guns and fighting for our rights. All I have to say to the complainers is, if you think you are going to be at a rally of over 2000 people and think the topics are going to line up exactly with what you believe, you're set to continue to be disappointed. I didn't agree with everything being said, all the time. But part of discourse is hearing things you don't necessarily believe and having the capacity to reason what is worth keeping as knowledge and what you should discard. I think I learned a lot more than what I dismissed as wrong.

For reasons that I articulated to the organizers of the Olympia rally, I attended the Coeur d'Alene rally instead. All those that took to the podium were excellent speakers, a State senator from Spokane Valley, state Reps from Idaho, a school board member who jumped in at the last minute..letters from County Sheriffs opposing the Obama nonsense. One exception: the guy from Oathkeepers, who seemed to be somewhat unhinged, using some colorful language to make his points, which elicited a nervous laugh from the crowd....I think you can get your point across fine without using slang for male and female genitalia.....

1000+ patriots filled that small parking lot and most everyone carried. Holstered pistols, Bushmasters, Armalites, M1 Garands, AK's, even a .50 Cal some old dude had slung over his shoulder. Plenty of Camo also......

Note: Sarah Palins' father was in town at another speaking engagement, but due to that conflict, he couldn't attend the rally...

compmanio365 said:

I had a great time and was glad I was there. We had 2000 people, in one of the biggest turnouts in the nation, all peacefully assembled to talk about freedom, guns and fighting for our rights. All I have to say to the complainers is, if you think you are going to be at a rally of over 2000 people and think the topics are going to line up exactly with what you believe, you're set to continue to be disappointed. I didn't agree with everything being said, all the time. But part of discourse is hearing things you don't necessarily believe and having the capacity to reason what is worth keeping as knowledge and what you should discard. I think I learned a lot more than what I dismissed as wrong.

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I liked the majority of the rally, I had a great time and enjoyed the turnout, what irked me was the OT ramblings of one speaker. Please read what I am saying, I had a specific complaint, which was narrowly articulated, with a solution in mind, that's called constructive criticism.

this thread was NOT intended to be critical of the entire event or bad mouth anyone, other then Didier that is, the point was that I felt that since gun owners fall across a wide political spectrum, especially in this state, that having a speakers who talks like he's talking to a TEA party crowd has the potential to shoot our rights in the foot.

Other then Didier I think everything was great, overall I would rate this as 95% (would be 100 if not for Didier).

I personally know liberal gun owners who said they were there and left due to Didier, and I'm not the only one of the forum membership who had gripes about Didier and Hadian, although I actually kind of liked Hadian...

internal divisions kill political movements, so causing a rift that will make fewer people likely to attend future events is in no one's best interest. And no, no one has to agree 100% but I'm sure many people were alienated when Didier went on the union bashing tour as well. Washington state has a high proportion on union member employees relative to the national average, also we are in the top half of the 50 states for gun ownership, you think those circles overlap?....

this is just one problem that there is.

EMNofSeattle said:

Of course I want to hear what pleases me, the second amendment and our constitutional rights please me greatly...

I think you missed the entire gist of the post. I am Christian. I am religious, I think that we don't need to use god as a political prop at a rally for a secular issue. There are gun owners who are liberal, union, gay, democrat, etc. this needed to be focused less on "we need to return to god" and "hide your radio parts" I did not say the rally was a failure or that Deros and Squeak and Bill didn't work hard on it. I am saying that someone should've whispered to Didier and told him to get back on topic or that in the future guest speakers need to be chosen for who will defend gun rights and not preach about SHTF prepping. I did not bad mouth Jim or squeak or anyone, I made a specific complaint about a specific speaker who went way over the boundaries of what should've been pushed

I am equally angry about Freedom1man and his buddy showing up to troll the rally with their "socialist security" signs that also had nothing to do with gun rights.

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ENM Dude you really do not get it, for example I liked that Didier talked about being prepared and you did not. So now who is right me or you? Who should the organizers please me or you? Please answer those two simple questions for me.

I thought they were there to please me...

I would much rather have him than Patty Muray.

compmanio365 said:

I had a great time and was glad I was there. We had 2000 people, in one of the biggest turnouts in the nation, all peacefully assembled to talk about freedom, guns and fighting for our rights. All I have to say to the complainers is, if you think you are going to be at a rally of over 2000 people and think the topics are going to line up eactly with what you believe, you're set to continue to be disappointed. I didn't agree with everything being said, all the time. But part of discourse is hearing things you don't necessarily believe and having the capacity to reason what is worth keeping as knowledge and what you should discard. I think I learned a lot more than what I dismissed as wrong.

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My wife and I both attended and supported the cause, got a little cold, took the tour, OC'd, wished there were 10,000, would have liked it if it was on Monday when the legislators were actually around, was a little surprised at Didier's speech...not because it was off topic, but because like salt, with a little more context it may have been more effective than a "rally" speech. Lot's of people are paying attention to individual issues, but others are looking at patterns....they have tin hats....

Many here are gathering "supplies" for whatever SHTF scenario that makes sense to them...Nick has an undisclosed amount of ammo....but he may get the employee discount now...

This bothers me: http://atk.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=25280&item=124123 and it's not the first contract.

The Militarization of the police forces across the country does too....and they all have AR-15's... many of them are select fire (but don't worry, we only give the to the really, really trained people).

HB 1012 does too....Last year's legislation it was about knives over 3"...

Didier is not as off base as one may think....I think that a lot of folks just didn't know what he was talking about....

We all complain about our legislators...their approval ratings are some version of 13% and yet incumbents re-election rates exceed 90%.

Some think a "protest" vote for a non-starter actually means something to anybody but themselves

Oak Harbor council bothers me...but I think we've won that one already...someone should remind the council about coercion under the color of authority for those in public office....especially if they formalize it with a vote.

Seattle bothers me....it makes me think of Chicago.

Magazine limits bother me....

Cabela's is selling 1lb tubs of Reloader 22 for a 30% premium...that bothers me.

I think our dependence on the internet and wireless phones for communication is pervasive and easier for the gov't to turn off than most people think...how hard can it be to get a ham license?

Committee's of Safety aren't a bad idea, I just don't know any of my neighbors

The GAO came out with yet another report of unsustainability based on our current rate of spending on the heels of the Republikans agreement to another 90 days on the debt limit based on a budget deal that no won will actually follow....

The President just re-anointed himself in an intimate private ceremony....WTF? oh, no worries it's just an issue with the calendar....come to the party tomorrow and see the replay being reviewed by the judges.

It just goes on.....and on....was Sunday's event about 2A issues? Yes, and more....its all connected.

The Sunday event was a success by (nearly) any measure.....we should do more of them....

Wait, they do happen....every second Saturday, somewhere....Keep up the good work!

.........and thanks to the organizers!

Orphan said:

ENM Dude you really do not get it, for example I liked that Didier talked about being prepared and you did not. So now who is right me or you? Who should the organizers please me or you? Please answer those two simple questions for me.

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Well in a subjective issue both of us are right.

who should the organizers please? as many people as possible with the subject. the constant god references and anti-union stuff was not needed. not having it would alienate no one, having it alienates hundreds. which is better trade off?

Gun rally should be about guns, freedom rally about freedom....

Not a political stage for republicans (or democrats), nor prayer time (for any religion).

Two things I don't like shoved down my throat... religion and partisan politics. This rally had both.

That being said, I want to thank Jim and the sponsors for helping out. I dutifully manned the OCDO table with a few other OCDO'ers and was able to educate quite a few people..

I will admit I tuned everything out about 5 mins into it, as it became god 'this' and republican 'that'.

I'd like to see this event occur more than once per year

O.C.ed at the Olympia rally, brought a friend, and enjoyed myself despite the bitter cold. Next event, lets tell each speaker "Stick to topic is a requirement".

It would be great if this event could be done several times this year. I'd love to see a turnout like this in the Seattle area. It would be even more persuasive if persons with contacts in the GBLT community could recruit supporters from that community. That would make it more difficult for the progressive media to deamonize us and our issue. There are or recently were Microsoft and Boeing employee shooting clubs, which could spread the message to their members. If we held a rally like this in the Seattle area we might get lots more than 2,000 attendees.

EMNofSeattle said:

Well in a subjective issue both of us are right.

who should the organizers please? as many people as possible with the subject. the constant god references and anti-union stuff was not needed. not having it would alienate no one, having it alienates hundreds. which is better trade off?

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EMN

I am going to take this to PMs so as to not clog up the blog.

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin

I attended the rally and enjoyed seeing so many folks come out on a cold day to support the 2nd amendment. I spent years serving our country to allow folks to speak their minds and to agree to disagree. There were many things said by the speakers that I disagree with in my personal beliefs. My issue was that however passionate the speakers were about their words, the day was supposed to be about the 2nd amendment. Their choice of words was in my opinion divisive, rather than inclusive. There were many statements by the various speakers that rang the bell of "The One True Way". Yesterday should have been about how we all need to pull together.

I believe in a secular government, that any given individual belief's in God, Allah, Jehovah, Buddha, Wicca, or some other less well published variation, should have nothing to do with the written laws or actions of the Government. The founders in general chose inclusive language for their written documents: "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"; "endowed by their Creator"; "Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

Feel free to infuse yourself with whatever belief or moral system you wish to accept, but when you discuss the government remember that the basis for our Government is to allow, we the people, the freedom to practice/worship/or just live freely with the inalienable rights that are the part and parcel of all Men.

LarryM said:

For reasons that I articulated to the organizers of the Olympia rally, I attended the Coeur d'Alene rally instead. All those that took to the podium were excellent speakers, a State senator from Spokane Valley, state Reps from Idaho, a school board member who jumped in at the last minute..letters from County Sheriffs opposing the Obama nonsense. One exception: the guy from Oathkeepers, who seemed to be somewhat unhinged, using some colorful language to make his points, which elicited a nervous laugh from the crowd....I think you can get your point across fine without using slang for male and female genitalia.....

1000+ patriots filled that small parking lot and most everyone carried. Holstered pistols, Bushmasters, Armalites, M1 Garands, AK's, even a .50 Cal some old dude had slung over his shoulder. Plenty of Camo also......

Note: Sarah Palins' father was in town at another speaking engagement, but due to that conflict, he couldn't attend the rally...

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I think there was more than 1000. I was actually surprised by the number of folks that showed up. I had to park way over by the bowling alley. The look on the craft store lady's face when I walked by open carrying was priceless.