... One of the biggest problems that we have is that gun owners want to tie a CIVIL RIGHT into their own political agenda and get religion, reproductive rights, sexual orientation and party politics into the mix.
Although the Rainbow Flag is used by the Gay/Lesbian/Transgendered Community, its significance is that the rainbow represents diversity and you might want to reflect that the Second Amendment is for everybody,: gay, straight, trans, black, white, rich, poor, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Agnostic, Atheist, liberal, conservative, whatever. The diverse tapestry that is America of 2016. Face reality, it ain't ever gonna be 1955 again no matter how much you liked Ike (I was there but that's not now, we have to be pragmatic)
If it can happen to us, it can happen to you...that's the point. Hearts and minds, educate not alienate.
Here is a possible philosophy to adopt:
Now Pitching For Democrats: Hillary Clinton
by Josh Benson • 12/23/02 12:00am
[Context: Hillary's plans for Democrat Party communications strategy as
secret chairman-elect of the Senate Democrat Steering Committee/AHM].
... Mrs. Clinton ... criticized Democrats for their lack of organization
and urged them instead to follow the example of conservative strategist
Grover Norquist, whose weekly strategy sessions, she said, produced
material for right-leaning commentators such as Fox personalities Sean
Hannity and Bill O'Reilly.
...
... Mr. Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform, said that Mrs.
Clinton was right-sort of-about the effectiveness of his organization.
"We have a meeting with 115 people each Wednesday," he said. "It
includes conservative journalists, people from government, people from
the Republican Party, people from the various active parts of the
coalition-and you just want to make sure that everyone knows what
everyone else is doing. It's not quite as formulaic as she would
imagine. It's 'We're working on this-I wanted you to know about it,' and
the writers in the room say, 'Oh, that's interesting,' and then they
write about it. It's not some set of talking points; it's that people
internalize the points."
But Mr. Norquist doubted that Mrs. Clinton-or anyone-would be able to
have a comparable impact for the Democrats.
"We are complimented that she would make that observation, but
reasonably confident that the left can't do what we do, because their
coalition is structured differently than ours," he said. "When I put
together 115 people at our Wednesday meeting, we have the gun people and
the tax people and the home-schoolers and the various communities of
faith, and everyone just wants to be left alone. So we can be friends,
because as long as the Christians don't steal anyone's guns, and the
property owners don't throw condoms at the Christians' kids, we can all
be friends. Our coalition doesn't want anything at anyone's expense.
"The left," Mr. Norquist continued, "is a collection of competing
parasites: the labor unions, the trial lawyers, the big-city political
machines, the people who are locked into welfare dependency. They are
not friends; they are competitors for divvying up the assets that the
state organizes. They'll never be able to work together as cheerfully as
we do."
This column ran on page 1 in the 12/23/02 edition of The New York
Observer.
(Emphases mine).
P. S. Nice to see you at the statehouse last Saturday, Mark.