An Interview with the the Pink Pistols

An Interview with the Pink Pistols: The Boston Chapter of One of America's Most Prominent LGBTQ+ Gun Advocacy Groups

By Sam Hwang

March 31, 2019

Throughout the entirety of human history, minority groups have been targets for discrimination, oppression, and violence. Now, in the 21st century, American society has become dramatically more progressive as a whole, thanks to various movements that have championed for equality and social justice. In spite of these gradual changes, hate crimes still occur, in that persistent “majority oppresses minority” pattern.

Of all minority groups, among the most vulnerable is the LGBTQ+ community. According to a 2016 New York Times article, LGBTQ+ people were “more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other minority group.” The article proposed that society’s gradual acceptance of alternative sexualities and gender identities could potentially be to blame, as it may have prompted already-bigoted people to become radicalized, resulting in tragedies like the Pulse Nightclub shooting (Park & Mykhyalyshyn, 2016). Regardless of the causes, it cannot be denied that members of the LGBTQ+ community are far too often targeted, and at times even assaulted or killed, for their gender or sexual orientation. With time, things will likely change for the better, of course. It takes generations for cultures to become acclimated to large societal breakthroughs. Surely we can just wait until then and hope for the best, right? We could. But not everyone is content with this plan of passivity.

One group that has taken it upon themselves to attempt to reduce the number of hate crimes carried out against LGBTQ+ people are the Pink Pistols, a gun rights advocacy group that was founded in 2000 and now has over 45 chapters across the United States. While they are open to everyone, they pride themselves in offering a safe place where gun-owning or gun-curious members of the LGBTQ+ community in particular can come together to shoot at ranges. However, the Pink Pistols are far more than just a gun rights advocacy group – at the heart of their organization is a much deeper goal. Slogans like “Pick on someone your own caliber,” “Armed queers don’t get bashed,” and “We teach queers to shoot. Then we teach others that we have done so,” can be found on their website, providing insight into the group’s grander motives – rather than just being a gun club that is particularly accepting of sexual/gender minority people, they want to reduce the size of the targets carried by members of the LGBTQ+ community, by changing potential aggressors’ perceptions of the group as a whole. It’s a simple case of Batesian mimicry; by arming a portion of the LGBTQ+ community and making it known that members of the community are in possession of and trained to use concealed weapons, bigots will be less likely to commit violent hate crimes against the group as a whole. Even if only some LGBTQ+ people are armed, enough publicity may protect the community as a whole. Whether or not this strategy will be successful has yet to be seen, but it certainly appears to be a step in the right direction (“About the Pink Pistols,” 2016).

Inevitably, some have misinterpreted the goals of the Pink Pistols. After all, they essentially represent the intersection of two groups that have historically been at different ends of the political spectrum. Intrigued by this dichotomy and hoping to learn more about the organization than I could glean from the Pink Pistols’ website and Facebook pages, I decided to reach out to a member of Boston’s chapter of the Pink Pistols for an interview over Facebook Messenger. Here’s what I found out.

Interview with an Anonymous Member of the Boston Chapter of the Pink Pistols

“I should start with a disclaimer that my experience is not generally representative of being queer and a prospective or current gun owner. Also, my experiences are restricted to the LGBTQ+ and gun owning communities in MA.”

Q. I understand that your group represents the intersection of two groups that have historically been at different ends of the political spectrum. Do you tend to experience more resistance from the LGBTQ+ community, or from the gun-owning community?

A. “So far, I have experienced no resistance from the gun-owning community for being queer. The general consensus from the gun-owning community individuals I have met was that owning a gun is a choice that should be accessible to anyone, regardless of identity. Furthermore, at the range, I was never approached in a prejudiced manner. In terms of resistance from the LGBTQ+ community, it was more mixed. Yes, there were individuals of the LGBTQ+ community who were against my decision to want to legally own a firearm for self-defense and sport purposes because they perceived that the ownership of firearms always does more harm than good. However, I have received support in my decision from LGBTQ+ community members which turned into further support for the Pink Pistols.”

Q. In what ways do you publicize the work that you are doing in order to contribute to changing the perception that people who may want to commit hate crimes against sexual minorities have against said minority groups?

A. “On the most part, publicization occurs through social media and published news coverages of our group. We have also found that current members often invite their friends to events, many who have become members in the future and spread the word to more friends as if it were a domino effect.”

Q. What were the biggest challenges faced in creating the Boston chapter of the Pink Pistols?

A. “While the Boston chapter was the first Pink Pistols chapter formed in the United States in 2000, it went dormant before being resurrected in 2016 shortly after the Pulse Nightclub Shooting occurred. Therefore, this answer is based on our experiences resurrecting the chapter in 2016 as I did not attend Boston Pink Pistols in the early 2000s. I would say that the biggest challenge was making sure that we would have more licensed members and instructors willing to put time into lending their equipment for beginners and teaching them safe, legal, and responsible gun ownership and handling. Fortunately, we have overall been seeing steady increases in both beginners and experienced owners lending their support toward Boston Pink Pistols.”

Q. Have any of your members had to use their experience handling weapons for self-defense?

A. “So far, none of our members have reported having to use their experience handling weapons for self-defense. However, we train not because dangerous situations happen often, but they do happen. Being assaulted can have irreversible and/or debilitating effects beyond death such as adverse mental health outcomes or injury.”

Q. How do you respond to people who argue that increasing the frequency of firearms (especially semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15) in the population can consequently increase the frequency of gun-related violence in non-self-defense-related incidents?

A. “I start by saying that I agree that effective background check policies that do not hinder responsible gun owners are important as part of making sure that those who are irresponsible and/or have bad intentions get ahold of firearms. However, there is also the risk of those who illegally acquired firearms harming others. In that situation, being able to fight back is critical to minimize the odds of the victim being killed or experiencing other debilitating effects of being assaulted such as adverse mental health outcomes or injuries.”

Q. Your website mentions that you provide a safe space for the BDSM community alongside the LGBTQ+ community. Do members of the BDSM community often fall victim to hate crimes for being a sexual minority in a way that is similar to members of the LGBTQ+ community?

A. “I am not a member of the BDSM community, but sadly, hate crimes can happen to anyone. Nobody deserves to be a victim. That is why the Pink Pistols welcomes anyone to participate regardless of what one may identify as, so long as they believe that self-defense is everybody’s right no matter the identity.”

Q. The Pink Pistols Facebook page states that there may be no political discussion except for advocacy of firearm rights. Does this ever cause a conflict of interests for members (discussing a pro-gun politician who may have anti-LGBTQ+ policies)? Do members often find their loyalties leaning to one side over another?

A. “I have yet to witness open conflict of interest shown between members on the Pink Pistols Facebook page. However, the main reason for such a rule is to maintain focus on advocacy of self-defense and firearms rights. It is not different from any club or organization, political or non-political, restricting posts on forums or social media for the purpose of staying on-topic. Resources are limited, so that is why we choose to focus on one cause. In other words, when one tries to get everything done, nothing gets done so we want to avoid that. In a general sense, different people have different views on various topics, as well as varying tolerances of different views. Not everybody is vocal about it. In terms of the context of the Pink Pistols, so far I have yet to witness differing views on topics not relating to firearms causing divisions.”

Q. In the future, do you think that the LGBTQ+ community will grow to be more or less accepting of firearms?

A. “That is something I cannot predict, but the first step to reducing stigmatization of being LGBT+ and a firearm owner is to have more open conversations about self-defense and firearms. Disagreement may be uncomfortable at times, but the more one experiences it, the more one gets accustomed to it.”

Q. As an organization, what are your plans/goals for the future?

A. “Besides continuing to working further towards our goals of providing equitable access to safe, legal and responsible firearms ownership and handling, we would like to look into providing access to non-firearm self-defense courses such as in situational awareness."

Works Cited

“About The Pink Pistols.” Pink Pistols, 14 June 2016, www.pinkpistols.org/about-the-pink-pistols/.

Park, Haeyoun, and Iaryna Mykhyalyshyn. “L.G.B.T. People Are More Likely to Be Targets of Hate Crimes Than Any Other Minority Group.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 June 2016, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/16/us/hate-crimes-against-lgbt.html.

Image Credits: The Pink Pistols