by Ari Armstrong, February 23, 2000
The Colorado Freedom Report--www.FreeColorado.com
On the eve of February 22 in Fort Collins, civil gun rights advocates clashed with state leaders of the "Million Mom March," a group that advocates new gun restriction laws and plans to march in Washington, D.C. this spring.
The Tyranny Response Team, assisted by Dudley Brown of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, led over 200 civil rights advocates in the protest. The Million Mom group, joined by members of Sane Alternatives to the Firearms Epidemic, the name of which likens gun ownership to a disease, turned out about 40 members.
Debra Collins, a state organizer of Second Amendment Sisters and the Armed Informed Mothers March, has expressed opposition to the political agenda of the Million Mom organization. Collins plans to lead a group of Colorado women to Washington, D.C. to advocate civil gun rights counter the Million Moms.
Kathleen Hopkins, an organizer of the Million Mom group, made allegations that she feels "threatened" by the civil gun rights protesters. But that's ridiculous, counter members of the Tyranny Response Team, which works peaceably for political change. Hopkins called police concerning the meeting.
Hopkins has also refused to debate publicly with Bob Glass, an organizer of the Response Team and the owner of Paladin Arms in Longmont. Glass has publicly and frequently offered to debate Hopkins on the right to keep and bear arms, at a location and time of Hopkins' choice.
Before the meeting, Carla Crowder of The Rocky Mountain News contacted several members of the Tyranny Response Team. These members joined Norm Resnick's show on the American Freedom Network at 1360 AM and complained that Crowder was impolite to them.
Crowder's story in the News today is obviously biased in favor of the Million Mom organization. This author sent a letter to the editor of the News which reads:
Maybe the *News* ought to send Carla Crowder back to journalism school for a refresher on the difference between an editorial and a news story. Her February 23 article was flagrantly biased against civil gun rights advocates.
The story's headline claims the Million Mom March group "tires of being target." Well, law-abiding gun owners are getting pretty tired of being targeted as well.
The sub-head claims the gun-control group was "taunted by gun-rights activists." Yet in the same edition of the *News*, the Justice for Mena Committee is defended for using bull-horns to defend their civil liberties. Why the double-standard?
Crowders' lead two paragraphs are condescending to civil gun rights activists and slanted to the perspective of the Million Mom March group. In addition, the caption by the photograph claims gun-rights advocates "blocked the entrance of the church to prevent people from attending a meeting of Million Mom March." That's a flat-out lie.
If Crowder can't learn to see past her biases to write fairly on gun issues, perhaps she should cover some other issue or find a new job.
That's not the first time Crowder has written with bias on gun issues. On January 26, she described the gun law "preemption" bill in terms used by opponents of that bill. Crowder wrote, "Throughout Colorado, municipalities use local ordinances to address gun issues specific to their needs." That's written as a point of fact, even though it is just an opinion. Another opinion is, "Throughout Colorado, municipalities use local ordinances to violate the Constitutional liberties of honest citizens and increase victimization at the hands of criminals."
In fairness to Crowder, she did a good job of covering the January meeting of the group FREE, or Firearm Rights Endorsed through Education. And there were a couple good things about the News story today. The photograph displays prominently a sign which reads, "Guns Stop Rape."
Crowder also included an excellent quote from Brown: "If someone proposed a new Jim Crow law in the South, do you think blacks would support that? No, they'd stand up and scream bloody murder. That's what we're doing."
