Correia: The Fuddy, Self-Righteous, Guns For Me But Not For Thee Contingent Are Dying Off

I love your terms about the “vulture press” and “vulture pundits.”  Tell folks here what you mean by that.

They get that name because there is this awful contingent in media who waits, perched, until whenever there is any sort of tragic or horrific event, they swoop in to feed. They delight in suffering and bloodshed. The more the better. They wait for when emotions are hot and people aren’t thinking to push for the dumbest, most illogical power grabs, because they know that’s the only time a sufficient mass of people are going to be illogical enough to fall for their scams. I’ve got a whole chapter going over how they operate, their usual tricks and scams, and the best ways to deal with them.  

I forget who originally said it, but after a shooting, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it. I feel like that approach used to be more effective than it is now. But they’re also selective about what shootings count. When gang members shoot black people in poor neighborhoods, there’s no outrage, and if you point it out, you’re somehow racist.

Absolutely. They live and die by their narrative. Anything that doesn’t fit the narrative gets ignored or swept under the rug. I go into America’s crime stats. They love to portray America as a nation with this crazy violent crime problem. Not really. America is a fairly peaceful nation with a handful of zip codes where it is murder city. Then the gun grabbers attack everybody who criticizes their insane ideas as racist, while their policies inordinately harm the demographics they are supposedly championing. It is a sick con game. …

For years the advice to gun owners was to keep their heads down as antigun forces went after them. Do you think that has changed?

I think it is in the process of changing. Some parts of the gun culture are sick and tired of the Perhaps If We Are Nice They Will Go Away defense. This is the portion that has been fighting and making gains for gun rights around the country. These are the organizations that are actively looking for lawsuits to file. These are the people who open their mouths and take newbies to the range. Thankfully the old fuddy, self-righteous, guns for me but not for thee contingent are dying off. 

What should gun-rights activists be working on?

I have a list of suggestions in the book for various laws we can push for at the local, state, and federal level, but far more importantly than the legislative battle is the cultural one. We need to be reaching out to our friends, families, neighbors, and community, spreading the word. Take people shooting. Help get them trained. Gun ownership exploded in 2020. Sales were off the charts. People saw cities on fire and the cops saying don’t bother calling 911 because we can’t come, you’re on your own, good luck, so they bought record numbers of guns. And it wasn’t my people standing in long lines to pay scalpers prices. We’ve already got ours. It was new people, first time buyers, and when you look at the demographics, not at all how the gun banners would present it as something for old white guys.

The best thing all of us can do is keep fighting this culture war, and if you aren’t, I hope this book can help you get started.

— Glenn Reynolds in Gun Wars: An Interview with Larry Correia