As a rule I only talk about politics as it relates to gun control, and seldom even then. But today I am going to write about a sensitive subject that does touch on politics, but it’s really about how we in the gun community want to be seen. We’ll start with a question: Do we, as gun owners, want to be known as rational, reasonable people? Or would we prefer to be known as reactionary assholes who use paranoid fantasies to justify our crimes? Cowardly bullies that terrorize innocent people? As a bunch of cowardly, jack-booted thugs?

On the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state there is a town called Sequim (usually pronounced ‘skwim’ by non-natives.) Nearby is a small town called Forks, made famous in fiction for being the home of a sparkly undead child molester and his teenage victim. These are, for the most part, nice little towns. On June 3 there was a protest in support of BLM in Sequim. Whatever you think of Black Lives Matter, the protest was peaceful, and there were no shenanigans. The local police had this to say:

‘A peaceful protest with approximately 200 participants is in progress mid-day in Sequim on June 3rd. A portion of the protesters broke off from the corner of Sequim Avenue and washington street and marched on the sidewalk west to the roundabout. Sequim Police are monitoring the situation and there has been no criminal activity.

please disregard rumors that members of Antifa are being bused to Sequim from out of town. There is no police intelligence to support this rumor. Police Intelligence indicates the protesters are local people and Police officers are looking for potential signs of agitation.’

OK, that’s the view of the police. Here’s what the city had to say:

OK, all good, and well done. People had their say and everyone went home without incident. Well, the police did run one fellow off… a fellow named Seth, who runs Fred’s Guns in Sequim. You might find the Yelp reviews of his store informative. Seth went to the protest and live-streamed, claiming to see 400+ protesters, and that Antifa members in black were being brought in by the busload. Very, very stealthy Antifa members; no one else, protesters, bystanders or police, saw them. You can still see the videos on his facebook page if you really want, but I am not inclined to post a link to this trash.

A couple from out of town came through in their camper- a converted school bus. Now the real fun begins. They stopped at a store in Forks, the small town near Sequim. Upon leaving the store they were confronted and asked if they were ‘Antifa.’ Apparently the locals were too stupid to recognize that the bus was converted to a camper and that it wasn’t full of people. I won’t even speculate as to whether the fact that they were a bi-racial couple had anything to do with the events that followed.

The couple left, and were reportedly followed by several cars full of armed men. Local witnesses have verified this. A local said the police escorted the couple out of town for their own safety.

But the incident, and the social media posting, wasn’t over. The couple left and found a camping spot, but hearing chainsaws and nearby gunshots decided to err on the side of caution and leave… but they couldn’t. Here’s why, and bear in mind this was after the couple had left town, not as they were trying to enter.

It is actually a crime to fell trees across a road. One wonders how Seth got this picture. One doesn’t wonder why he misrepresented this as preventing them from entering town. It seems very much like the sort of thing a lying, cowardly asshole might do to puff himself up.

The couple was able to leave when some young folk came along with a chainsaw and cleared the road. I don’t know who these kids were, but apparently wandering around with a chainsaw isn’t that unusual in a rural area where a lot of folks heat with wood.

I have this account from another local. They don’t mind being quoted by name, but the kind of cowards that harassed this couple cannot be trusted to leave them alone if they see this, so I choose not to name them. I will tell you this person is a gun owner and dedicated to our 2nd Amendment rights.

“First I’ll refer you to the page ‘Fred’s Guns 2.0’. He deleted the worst of his videos, but his live videos are what started all of this & some of them are still up for you to view. It all started with a BLM protest in Sequim (also on the Olympic peninsula) which then morphed into Seth (owner of Fred’s Guns) telling the ‘patriots’ of our town to come guard the community. Keep in mind this is a very small area and the entire protest was organized by mothers of young children & high schoolers. There was absolutely zero violence & the police were involved from the planning stages. Seth went down, posted a video saying that he saw 400+ people, a bus loads of people dressed in all black here from the city to riot for ANTIFA. None of this was true, and he was told to leave. He proceeded to post pictures of busses (including the one the family was driving) saying these were ANTIFA members. Then…people believed him & chased the bus down.”

Other locals have been in touch have verified the account above, and other details I have provided. They know me because they too are gun owners I am acquainted with.

Whatever our opinions of BLM, Antifa and their actions, they weren’t actually involved. The protesters were orderly, no busloads of Antifa were present, no damage was done by the protesters. Just a gun store owner spreading lies, and a bunch of bullies getting hysterical and harassing innocent people. What a grand victory for Truth, Justice and The American Way!

Is this how we want to be known? Because in the eyes of a lot of people these jackasses represent the gun community. I know full well that most of us are decent, thoughtful and law abiding people. The kind of people that pull crap like this aren’t, but since scum floats this is what people see, and what informs their opinion of us. This fact doesn’t thrill me.

I’m sure that the stupid jerks that perpetrated this shit are busy all over their social media of choice, letting us all know what big, bad, manly dudes they are, making up excuses for their behavior and spreading more lies to justify themselves. I’m sure there are plenty of people who will believe them. This kind of behavior is bad for gun owners, and in these dark, uncertain times this sort of crap, and the publicity that will come from it, is the last thing we need.

Local Law Enforcement is investigating, and charges may yet be filed. I’ll be watching with interest.

I encourage you to verify what I have written here; I understand that I am pretty much asking you to take my word for things, and you are free to disbelieve me… but why would I lie? I’m all for people working together, exercising their 2nd Amendment rights and defending their town and neighbors, but that’s plainly not what happened here. These people should be ashamed of themselves, and we should be ashamed that people like this count themselves as part of our community.

I fully expect a lot of negative kickback for this post, and maybe I’ll even lose some readers. I’m OK with that, because this sort of crap is bad for all of us and if we don’t police ourselves someone will… and I doubt we’ll enjoy that.

Take care and stay safe.

Michael Tinker Pearce, 6 June, 2020