Not to pick on the Philadelphia Inquirer, but I will use a recent story to illustrate confirmation bias.
The headline of the story read, “The LGBTQ people buying guns for self-defense,” and the top of the story makes its position clear when it quote a 23-year-old trans woman identified only as A as saying, “Three months before the [presidential] election, that’s when alarm bells started to ring.”
The story quotes a couple of gay people about also buying firearms, suggesting they were motivated by the coming of President Donald J. Trump deux, with one fearing Trump would put gays in concentration camps. That’s paranoia. Trump has never said anything like that about gays. He has said he is willing to hold undocumented people as they await deportation, but not gays.
The story takes a couple of factual fibers and tries to weave into a sweater of GOP homophobia.
The story by Zoe Greenberg, briefly mentions, among others, the Pink Pistols, a group I wrote about in a 2016 column about gays buying guns, published before an election in which Trump was expected to lose. I interviewed several gay gun owners. None mentioned politics.
I had heard about gays arming up from a firearms instructor, Jeff Bloovman, who describes himself “as gay as the day is long.” Bloovman also teaches other forms of self-defense and regards guns as a last resort.
“I don’t want my students getting into gun fights,” he told me at the time, while checking me out on a shotgun at a firing range.
The Pink Pistols were formed in 2000, back when you-know-who was president.
You forgot? Democrat Bill Clinton.
It is true gays are often targeted by bullies, and worse, which is why the Pink Pistols urges gays to arm themselves for self-defense. If you are looking for a single factor that led to the creation of the Pink Pistols, it was not a who, but a what — the June 2016 mass murder in Pulse, a gay nightclub.
The Inquirer story connected rising gay gun sales to fear of Republicans, and that is the confirmation bias. It is finding facts to support your beliefs. But do you know who actually drove gun sales through the roof?
A Democrat.
Barack Obama was humorously referred to as the greatest gun salesman of all time because guns flew off the shelves after he was elected.
Why?
Those who wanted to own guns feared he would somehow ban them. That drove demand.
In the last decade, gun sales have made great strides among those who did not own in the past — racial minorities, and women.
Why?
Fear sparked by a rising crime rate, not by Republicans.
Because of what it is — anti-gun and anti-Republican — the Inquirer found a smattering of people who would blame who the newspaper wanted to have blamed — Trump and Republicans.
As usual, the truth is more complicated.
A lot of people buy guns, for a lot of reasons. Gallup reports 44% of American households have guns. Over the years, the reason for gun ownership has moved from hunting to self-defense, not hate.
And even liberals are buying them. And that’s a fact.
I own a gun. I always wanted to target (inanimate) shoot, just because I am a ‘girl’ and wanted to try some of the fun action things that ‘boys’ do.
Just as Covid started to be a thing, I got my carry permit (Pennsylvania by the way, unfortunately does not require training (safety or otherwise) to get one. I DID take lessons. The 1st time I actually went to a shooting range and fired a pistol, I shrank in terror. This is not fun. A gun is a little machine that yields enormous power; physically and emotionally. It scared me because all that I envisioned was the story of the 4 year old who accidentally shot himself or his brother…
Anyway, I practiced weekly and I never acquired a taste, although, during the George Floyd ‘peaceful’ decimation of our city, I brought to to my bedroom – loaded.
Owning a gun is not a joke. Firing a gun is not a joke. If you, LGBTQ+ or otherwise carry a gun on the street or into a club, you’d better be ready to fire and kill. You will not have time to fiddle in your purse for one; you need muscle memory and hate in your heart.
Very revealing comment and you learned your lessons well. And, yes, PA ought to require training in firearms and firearms law, meaning WHEN you can legally use lethal force.
The Inquirer article was written to stir up hatred for Donald Trump. The Paper has gone far left and by doing so is going to put the stinky Inky out of business. Gone are the days of having great writers for the Inquirer and Daily News. I get the Inquirer and Daily News online and because of the one sided coverage I won’t be renewing it at the end of the year.
I subscribe and have suggested the Inquirer sales pitch should be, “Well, we’re better than nothing.”
The only real jornalist left at the Stinquirer is Trudy Rubin. And Gene Roberts is sorely missed.
Old gay guy here. About four years ago, with rising crime rates and a police force in retreat here in Philly (and elsewhere), I was seriously considering purchasing a gun and going for training. My husband talked me out of it (for the time being). This reckless drive by the desperate and crazy left wing Inquirer to stir fear and hysteria is despicable. For the record, I left the Democratic Party almost two years ago (after 50 year registration) because it had veered into crazy territory with its social agenda. I am independent which suits my centrist views just fine but locks me out of the primaries here in Philly. As I have been saying for years, gays and lesbians are not a monolithic block of mental robots blindly following “our leaders”. Most of us think for ourselves. The desperation of this once respected paper is tragic.
About that rising crime rate…
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/24/what-the-data-says-about-crime-in-the-us/sr_24-04-23_crime_3/