Pro-Gun LGBT Group ‘Pink Pistols’ Fight Hate Crime With Firearms

Pink Pistols are a LGBT gun advocacy group that teaches members how to safely defend themselves using firearms.

One of the latest factions to open was the Orlando group in Florida after the Pulse nightclub shootings where 50 innocent people were killed in June last year.

Now the Orlando community has come together in unity and are fighting back against hate crime.

Maria Rodriguez lost her close friend and housemate, Frankie, in the attack.

Maria, 50, from Orlando, said: “That evening, something woke me up in the middle of the night at about 2am. My heart was racing, I turned on the TV and all of a sudden the first news that came up was Pulse. I immediately started calling all my friends.

“We were told he went there with a couple of friends and the rest of our friends were able to get out but unfortunately he panicked. He panicked and he stayed behind. The last time they saw him, he was being shot.

“We didn’t know where he was at until the following day when we were all searching for him and we got the news from Orlando regional hospital that whoever was on the list was deceased. That’s how we found out he was deceased.”

Despite the deadly violence that day Maria is still a supporter of carrying a gun.

She said: “I will not go against banning guns even after what happened at Pulse. Although it touched me deeply I think that you should be able to protect yourself.

“I think it would have helped him if more people that were in Pulse had a gun because it would had been more protection for them. I think it would have been over quicker and not be so devastating.”

Pink Pistols was originally set up in 2000 after a series of hate attacks on the LGBT community.

After the events in Florida last year, the group have seen memberships soar,and now there is a faction in almost every state in America.

NRA certified instructor, Jo Martin, started the Orlando group in August last year.

Jo said: “After Pulse, the LGBT community - in addition to the non LGBT community in this area - was pretty badly affected because it happened right here and people that we knew were affected by it directly, so it did have a major impact.

“One positive thing to come from such a negative event was that people have really come together and whether they were LGBT or not people were really helping each other out and I think that has carried forward as well.”

Jo, originally from Scotland, believes that it is important to be able to safely handle a firearm, and says that it is an important ‘equaliser’ to have in dangerous situations.

She said: “I personally carry a gun at times where it is legally possible to carry a gun. I feel like it is a great equaliser.

“I pray every night that I don’t have to use my firearm but it is good piece of mind that it is there if I do need it. I have the same opportunity to defend myself as the perpetrator who is trying to do harm against me.”

In Florida, it is legal for members of the public to carry a concealed weapon.

And many members of the Pink Pistols support the Second Amendment.

Jo said: “The answer to the question that will the world be a better place without guns is, absolutely. But there is a caveat to that, only if nobody had them and quite honestly, realistically I don’t see that happening.

“By their very nature, criminals don’t follow the laws so it doesn’t matter how many laws you put in place if they are criminals they are going to break the laws anyway.

“And basically all that means is that criminals have the guns and the law-abiding citizens do not and they have no way of protecting themselves.

“I’m an advocate for the Second Amendment that we have in the United States and I don’t want to see that being diminished in anyway.

“I pray I never need to use it but I do have that knowledge if I do need to and that’s one of the reasons I am involved in Pink Pistols; because we want to share that knowledge so that other people have that level of confidence as well.”

Rick Claggett is one of the members of Pink Pistols in Orlando.

Rick said: “The events that post affected me personally because it took me back to a time where I didn’t feel safe.

““I don’t know if America would be safer if we didn’t have guns necessarily. I think the training needs to be into the people who use them.

“If people wanted to kill people we find a way to do this. So, I don’t necessarily think that getting the guns is going to answer for that.”

Jeremy Williams works for the local LGBT magazine in Orlando.

He said: “I think it is very important for anybody, whether they intend to carry a gun or not to take a course like the one being offered by Pink Pistols because having the knowledge, I mean having education on anything does not hurt anybody.

“I don’t know if America would be safer if guns were banned altogether because they are out there so that would have been a question to propose back when the nation was first starting and guns were at their infancy. But I think there are just too many guns out there to look at that as a viable way of keeping America safe.”

Now the Orlando community is rebuilding itself and hoping for a future where hate crime is a thing of the past.

But for Maria and many others, June 12 2016 will be a day that will stay with them forever.

Maria said: “Frankie was a very happy person, a spectacular human being, always caring, always giving a helping hand to others. If he would see that you were hurt, he would always try to put a smile on your face. He was just a loving, caring human being.

“We remember him constantly. We see something that reminds us of him, we will open up to each other and you know, speak about it. My mom is my biggest supporter and I am always talking to her and she loved him and she accepted him as who he was.

“My hopes for the future are that everyone accepts everyone without judgment, without discrimination, without racism. Who cares who you love? You love who you love and love is universal.”