This is a story about how we win.
Last week I was contacted by someone from National Public Radio who wanted to know if I could put her in touch with a new gun owner (one who bought a firearm for the first time within the past year) who was also queer.
I was happy to introduce her to Ermiya Fanaeian, who not only restarted the defunct Salt Lake City chapter of the Pink Pistols, but was previously a gun-control activist who changed her stance due to the recent uptick in violence against transwomen.
The result of that introduction is a 5-minute interview by Scott Simon, which aired on March 13. I encourage you all to listen to the interview below, or read the transcript on the NPR website.
You may not know it, but this is an amazing step forward for Pink Pistols and Operation Blazing Sword. For years we have struggled to make our voice be heard by those who need it most: queer people who have been told all their lives that guns are bad and all gun-owners are potential murderers, and therefore don’t even know that we exist and that the Second Amendment is for them, too.
All of that changed this week, because National Public Radio is listened to by many, many people on the left, and they heard an obviously left-of-center queer woman telling them that she owns an AR-15 for protection and that they should, too. Just this one interview is better than any advertising we could buy, and so many people will hear it and wonder if maybe they should buy a gun because Ms. Fanaeian has one.
This is how we win: by normalizing firearm ownership and getting our message to those who need to hear it. I’m proud to have been a part of this, and if you’re a Pink Pistol or a volunteer for Operation Blazing Sword, you should feel proud of this too.