Pulse: Two Years Later
June 12, 2018
Two years ago this morning, I woke to the news that a terrorist attack had taken place in Orlando, Florida. In the months that followed, my Facebook feed and friends list changed, based on how people responded to that event and to my anger surrounding it.
As angry as the event would have ordinarily left me, a sizable portion of social media seemed to be filled with people suggesting that I was least partly responsible for it — that my position of believing that law-abiding Americans should be free to provide for their own safety and self-defense, and therefore should not be legally prohibited from easy access to firearms — was what led to the largest attack on American soil since 9/11.
This morning I shared a post from Operation Blazing Sword, a group which was founded in the wake of that attack with the simple-sounding goal of connecting gun-curious LGBTQ folks with gun owners who were willing to help them learn. On the surface, it matches students with volunteer teachers, but on a deeper and more important level, it’s about building bridges between groups.
On one side: LGBTQ people who have been told that gun owners are a bunch of right-wing bigots who hate them. On the other side: gun owners who have been told that LGBTQ people are a bunch of far-left special snowflakes who hate them. And though the surface goal promotes armed self-defense, it’s the interpersonal connections that are the real win. Every time someone volunteers, a hammer-blow is struck against the wall dividing “us” from “them”. Every person who sees the website, or flier, or t-shirt, decal, patch, or card and realizes that “they” are willing to help “us” is another crack in the foundation of that wall. Every time someone reaches out or sees another person reaching, it’s a victory.
Two years later, people are still volunteering. From a handful to a few dozen, to hundreds, through a thousand and beyond, with people volunteering almost every day. These are people raising a hand and saying “I’m here for you” in every state in the country plus Canada, Australia, and more.
Love wins when people say “I don’t care how different you are from me. I value your life. Let me help you.”
— Courtney Ballard, Operation Blazing Sword volunteer
If you are LGBTQ and want to learn about guns, we’re here to teach you. If you are LGBTQ and don’t want to learn, we will help protect you. We are Operation Blazing Sword, and we teach everyone how to shoot.
OPERATION BLAZING SWORD
800 Belle Terre Parkway, Suite 200-302 Palm Coast, FL 32164-2310
EIN 81-4230880