Bloggers Take Center Stage At NRA Exhibitions And Meeting

The 2009 Exhibitions and Meetings of the National Rifle Association, held this year in Phoenix, Ariz., are winding down. And I find myself still back in the Midwest, in Central Ohio. But many of my fellow gun bloggers made the trek this year, and for the second year in a row, were granted "media" credentials by the NRA.

The Second Annual Second Amendment Blog Bash. I have promoted the events of both 2008 and 2009, but have yet to be able to make time to get there. I envy my colleagues -- most of whom I have never met and only know in the virtual world. Someday soon, however . . .

According to a nicely balanced story in the Christian Science Monitor, nearly 50 gun bloggers are on site reporting the goings on, in comparison to about 100 traditional print and electronic broadcast media.

Read it here.

One thing I take exception to. Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center says the blogging world tips more to the pro gun side of the arms war argument because, among other reasons, pro-gun bloggers have more free time. In fact, many of us have very little time. We do it out of passion. We make the time. It is important. The vast majority of us are employed full time. So to suggest we all have lots of free time?

I work in a straight commission industry as a commercial/investment Realtor. Mr. Sugarmann? He has deep-pocketed foundations bankrolling his computer systems and paying his salaries. We write from our heart. We use our brains. We think. We observe. We discuss. We learn. We reason. Most importantly, no one tells US what to write.

Stereotypes about firearms owners also are busted in this piece, especially when the writer wonders what people look like based on the names they use or the names of their blogs.

"Looking at names like “Bitter,” “Gunnuts,” and “The Smallest Minority,” followers of the growing gun-blogging scene could well imagine some pretty rough-and-tumble characters behind the Internet handles. But at a meet-and-greet with industry reps at Majerle’s restaurant after Friday’s convention, the “blog bash” attendants looked more like attendees at an insurance industry convention, with some Hawaiian shirts thrown in for good measure."

Hmmmm. Interesting. I wear either a suit or sportcoat, or khakis and golf shirt most of the time, unless I am hunting or shooting. And even then I have been known to show up on the range in a suit.

Among the gun bloggers mentioned in the story: Sebastian at Snowflakes in Hell, Bitter, The Smallest Minority, Another Gun Blog, and Cowboy Blob.

It's a good piece. Pass it on.