Flowers are good. Guns are bad.

One year ago, the Million Mom March used free bus rides and free entertainment
to lure tens of thousands of people to their anti-gun rally in Washington,
D.C.
This Mother’s Day saw a greatly scaled back effort, with small rallies held in
several cities.

The event staged by the MMM in Seattle on May 12, 2001 provided an interesting
insight into the character of the organization at the local level. Billed as
a
“Safe Kids Rally”, it was held inside a food court building at the foot of the
Space Needle. At least a hundred people dropped in to receive free flowers
and
view parts of the program, which consisted of an ongoing three-hour stage show
and a dozen tables where information was offered by various groups and
agencies.

The stage program was striking in its simplicity and emotionalism. The
majority
of those who appeared were children, singing simple songs and performing skits
that would be appropriate in a grade school. The Moms apparently do not
promote
deep thinking and have no qualms about exploiting children for political
gain.

An adult speaker who appeared to be associated with a teacher’s union urged
the
audience to go into a school, grab a child, any child, and give them a big
hug.
He did not say how to avoid being arrested.

The most memorable slogan of the day, printed on numerous shirts, was:
“Flowers
are good. Guns are bad.” Some Million Mom members wore shirts announcing
their
desire to ban all guns. This of course contradicts the official line that
says
they don’t want to ban guns.

A flyer handed out at the information tables described the Million Moms’ 35
full
time employees and its office at San Francisco General Hospital. The table
workers were completely unaware that 30 of those employees were recently fired
and the organization was thrown out of its free office space for alleged
improprieties.

The overall atmosphere of the event bore an uncanny resemblance to the peace
movement of the 1960′s. Troublesome thoughts about individual rights and
self-defense were ignored as the participants concentrated on producing a
mind-numbing wave of peace and love. One observer, recalling his long-ago
hippie days, thought the participants were in a state of mind known as
“blissed
out”. Another was reminded of a technique called “love bombing” practiced by
religious cults.

Outside the building, a group of about 80 enthusiastic gun rights activists
gathered to protest the aims of the MMM. They debated with people passing by
and displayed signs with hard-hitting slogans about self-defense and the role
of
government. Women leaving the anti-gun love-fest held up long stemmed flowers
like crosses, as if to ward off uncomfortable thoughts.

Several Seattle police officers were assigned to watch the protestors, but
they
turned out to be quite well behaved. In keeping with the generally laid back
culture of Seattle, the protesters were free to lay down their signs and enter
the building, either to observe the program or refuel at the food court
restaurants.

One pro-rights activist played a small trick on the MMM members which may be
instructive. He offered a stack of signs to people who were handing out
anti-gun literature at the information tables. The signs, designed to be
displayed on the front of a residence, said “Gun Free Home”. These are
usually
offered to anti-gun people as an insult, since one would have to be an idiot
to
display such an open invitation to criminals. In this case however, the
blissed-out MMM volunteers happily distributed the signs to bewildered soccer
moms.

It might seem that such an incompetent and illogical group could never hope to
have an influence on public policy, but there is more to this story.

The event was well covered by at least three Seattle TV stations and two
newspapers. The pro-rights demonstrators, despite plenty of signs, banners,
balloons and thought provoking speeches were almost totally ignored. The
media
instead showed pictures of children making Mother’s Day cards and sound bite
interviews with well-rehearsed “gun violence” victims.

One reason for this biased coverage was the brilliant choice of Mona Lee Locke
as the guest of honor. The photogenic former local newscaster and wife of
Washington Governor Gary Locke is a media magnet and very influential with her
old colleagues at area news outlets. It would have been difficult for them to
provide positive exposure to anyone who opposes her policies.

This was another harsh lesson for supporters of civil rights. Logical
arguments
are useless against an emotional message specifically tailored for a biased
media. It is also a mistake to dismiss the Million Mom March based on the
flower power theme and zombie-like performance of its foot soldiers. There
are
sharp minds running the show, at least in Seattle. They know how to
manipulate
their supporters and the media. Their disingenuous tactics make it hard to
discern their real goals, but it’s a safe bet that they won’t stop until they
get what they want.

Dr. Michael S. Brown is an optometrist in Vancouver, Washington and a board
member of Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws – he may be reached at [email protected]