2A rallies from one Washington to the ‘other’ suggest gun owners are growing restless

April 20, Seattle Gun Rights Examiner
Dave Workman



Monday’s Second Amendment March (SAM) in Washington, D.C. was a huge success compared to the armed gathering at Virginia’s nearby Fort Hunt and Gravelly Point parks, and now gun rights activists in the ‘other’ Washington (I prefer the real Washington) are working hard to match yesterday’s events right here in the Evergreen State.


As many as 2,000 people gathered in the shadow of the Washington Monument, and about 50 at Gravelly Point and Fort Hunt parks in Virginia.


A noon rally at Olympia’s Tivoli Fountain on the Capitol Campus is scheduled this Saturday, April 24. It almost did not happen, when a local coordinator bowed out pretty much without telling anyone. Picking up the ball and running with it like stallions are two Evergreen State gun rights activists, David Del Buono and Jim Beal. Del Buono is known on a state hunting forum as “Adams” and Beal calls himself “DEROS72” on the Open Carry forum. Gun owners owe these two men immeasurable gratitude for pulling this event together; for some people, doing the impossible just takes a little longer.

This may be a “be there or be square” event. As one member of the Open Carry Forum, who identifies himself as “Squeak” put it, “I'm getting really tired of some that are taking this event as (if) it doesn't mean anything. They have to mow the lawn or change the oil in the car. These are the same people that will whine big time if their rights are lost…”

The Washington Monument SAM, initiated by my colleague Skip Coryell, drew an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people, according to the Washington Post, and that newspaper is not known to be generous when estimating crowd sizes at conservative-oriented events. Meanwhile, on the Virginia side of the Potomac, less than 100 turned out for a gun-totin’ event where people openly carried handguns and rifles.


Jason Brown, 34, a bank security guard from Vancouver, Wash., said he traveled to the nation's capital for the first time because no other cause is as important to him as defending the Second Amendment right to bear arms.--Washington Post



My colleague Paul Valone weighs in on these events here and, after some deliberation, considers them successes because they drew attention to firearms ownership as a constitutionally-protected civil right. He gave high marks to our mutual colleague David Codrea, who spoke at the event and shares his impressions here.

Coverage of these events tended to focus on the smaller Virginia affair only because it attracted gun-carriers, while the Washington Monument event was much larger, but no guns were in sight. Readers can judge coverage of the event by their own standards, including stories in the Los AngelesTimes, Huffington Post, CNN and even Al Jazeera.

Conflicting with this Saturday’s event is the monthly Puyallup gun show, sponsored by the Washington Arms Collectors at the fairgrounds. My suggestion: Hit them both. That’s what I’ll be doing.

One may ask “Why is this important?” After all, the past few years have seen far more advances than setbacks for gun rights, not the least of which was the 2008 Heller ruling at the Supreme Court. Here in Washington, no serious anti-gun bill has made it out of committee for the past couple of years.

Simply put, firearms owners want to keep it that way. This week’s gatherings in both Washingtons serve as reminders to lawmakers that gun owners are essentially out there in the tall grass. Gun prohibitionists have, as I predicted here and here, demonized these gatherings, and they are mounting a counter effort in print.


A woman just walked through the crowd of pro gun protesters screaming "treason" while walking her two dogs on a leash. Eventually a group of reporters surrounded her and asked what she was doing. She responded that she was defending the Obama administration from it's critics.—Huffington Post



These demonstrations fan the flames of violence, intimidate state and federal government, and send the message that armed Americans should challenge and defy our sense of public order and the rule of law.—Cathie Whittenburg, director of New England Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence


Valone noted that Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke and the Violence Policy Center’s Josh Sugarmann apparently “skulked by” the SAM event. It may be a long shot, but maybe Washington CeaseFire’s Ralph Fascitelli will show up near Saturday’s rally; he’s rather hoplophobic, as was demonstrated earlier this year by his conduct at a hearing on a gun ban bill, which I wrote about here.

Far too many armchair gun rights “advocates” will blow off this Saturday’s event. Put this in perspective. Those who find some excuse to stay away are not letting Beal or Del Buono down, they’re letting themselves down. Their absence will speak volumes about gun owner apathy; the kind of apathy that the other side will use against them. Vancouver's Jason Brown went all the way to Washington, D.C. to be part of Monday's march. Olympia is a lot closer, so what will your excuse be?

Where would we be, as a nation and as a people, if the Minutemen had opted to cut grass or play golf?