Gays and guns: new group hopes both mix
by Laura Kiritsy
Bay Windows staff

Boston resident Doug Krick would like to see members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community packing more than their fannies into a pair of jeans on a Saturday night — he’d like to see them packing pistols, too. As the founder of a new organization called the Pink Pistols, Krick aims to create a social and political scene for gay gun enthusiasts.

“It’s a fun thing to do,” Krick says about the Pink Pistols’ monthly trips to a Manchester, N.H., shooting range, where they hone their target shooting skills. The group is also open to members of other “alternative sexualities,” such as the polyamorous and BDSM (bondage/discipline and sado-masochism) communities. Krick organized the Pink Pistols about two months ago, saying he has “known a number of queer shooters over the years.” The main focus of the group is primarily for gun-toting gays to practice their hobby together. “It’s a group of us having fun — absolutely,” explains Krick of the social element the group offers.

But there’s more to the Pink Pistols than shoot-’em-up fun. The group also rates political candidates based on a survey of their positions on issues such as gay civil rights and the right of all citizens to bear arms without restrictions. A peek at the group’s Web site, www.pinkpistols.org — complete with the slogan “Pick on someone your own caliber” — finds Libertarian candidate Carla Howell, who is challenging Ted Kennedy’s seat in the U.S. Senate, scoring an A+ for her responses, including her declaration that she “is a 100% pro-gun candidate.” Howell also earned points for her statement that “all adults should be treated equally under the law. As a politician it’s not my job condone nor condemn any particular lifestyle.”

(Krick was recently a Libertarian candidate for the Legislature, but could not garner the required number of signatures to be placed on the ballot.)

Beginning gun users can also take a Pink Pistols-sponsored home firearm safety course, as another of the group’s goals is to advocate the proper and safe use of guns. “It’s better to learn the right way to load, unload and fire a weapon, than to learn the hard way,” say the Pink Pistols on their Web site’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. Krick, who first picked up a rifle in the early 1980s as a Boy Scout, hopes to reduce the fear of guns among members of the gay community. Of those who have participated in the monthly target shooting outings, he says, “Some come out of curiosity, having a respectful fear of guns. Some of that has gone away after learning the reality of firearms. People enjoy it.”

Krick borrowed the group’s name from a Jonathan Rauch article of the same name that was published in the online magazine Salon.com. Rauch advocated a call to arms for gays, who he says have been continually portrayed as helpless victims by the gay rights movement.

“If it became widely known that homosexuals carry guns and know how to use them, not many bullets would need to be fired. In fact, not all that many gay people would need to carry guns, as long as gay-bashers couldn’t tell which ones did. Suddenly, what is now an almost risk-free sport for testoterone-drenched teenagers would become a great deal less attractive,” said Rauch in the March 13 article.

Krick said that the Rauch article was “part of what got this whole thing spinning in the first place,” but when asked if the Pink Pistols advocate carrying guns as an antidote to gay bashing, Krick responded that was strictly a personal choice among members and the group as a whole does not advocate arming gays for that specific reason. The group also takes no stance on the issue of hate crimes legislation. Krick, however, stated that his personal belief is that armed gays would reduce the number of antigay violence, and overall he believes that all people have the right to arm themselves for self-protection. Citing the research of Yale University’s John Lott — author of a study called “More Guns, Less Crime” — who found a direct correlation between states with concealed-gun laws and a reduction in violent crime, Krick says, “In most cases when people do carry [guns] actual firing is not necessary.”

Krick, who came to Boston from the Chicago area three and a half years ago, said that he has been met with some hesitance from the gay community and skepticism from the gun community. “People aren’t quite sure if we’re real and if we are trying to educate people,” he said, as opposed to merely creating an atmosphere of retaliation for such crimes as the murder of Matthew Shepherd, which could lead to an “arms race” or “more Draconian” gun laws. Krick is quick to point out that such fears are unfounded and the Pink Pistols do not advocate taking the law into your own hands. “In any incident where someone is out there with a firearm you need to be smart,” he explained.

And the Pink Pistols are not unique in promoting recreational shooting for the gay community. A group of gay gun enthusiasts has recently begun meeting through a violence prevention organization called Cease Fear in Washington State.

Currently the Pink Pistols has approximately 20 members in the Boston area and 20-30 members nationally. The idea has taken off rather quickly — shortly after Krick started the Boston chapter, a Pink Pistols formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Chapters are also starting in Minnesota and Delaware.

Though he is pleased with the rapid growth of the Pink Pistols, with a current budget of about $100.00, he is unsure as to exactly what the organization will become. “I don’t have goals for where it’s going, Krick says. “Personally I would like to remove some of the fear of guns in the gay community and some of the fear of alternative sexuality from the gun community.”