I just discovered this lovely little article published in the "Seattle Weekly", June 21, 2000, about the NRA - thought it might be of interest.
The NRA contends it doesn't care who gets the training, a gun owner is a gun owner. "We don't ask gender or gender preference," says NRA spokesman Jim Manown when asked about gay membership in the organization. "Personally, I run into all sorts of individuals." The rub is that many gays and lesbians might never feel totally comfortable with an organization whose political supporters include a lot of right-wing homophobes. Thus, Cease Fear acts as a bridge between the two communities, promoting safety and gun ownership without the baggage of the NRA.
But with or without the NRA, some gays are decidedly pro-gun—or at least pro-self-defense. A recent article on Salon, Jonathan Rauch, makes the case for gays being armed. In response to mounting hate crimes and gay-bashing incidents, Rauch argues that guns not only can protect gays, but transform them, just as self-defense has empowered Jews. "Guns can do the same thing for homosexuals: emancipate them from their image—often internalized—of cringing weakness. I'll warrant that this would do far more for the self-esteem of the next generation of gay men and women than any number of hate crime laws or antidiscrimination statutes."
Rauch writes, "Let's make gay bashing dangerous."
"Cease Fear" - what a wonderful name for an organization.