Meet the Pink Pistols, an armed gay-protection group whose membership has surged since Orlando

Happiness is a warm gun

ORLANDO — Karen McCloud and her girlfriend fired round after round, the bullets hitting the human-shaped silhouette down range in the head and chest.

A former soldier, McCloud was a straight shot. Her hands steady, her breathing calm, she squeezed the trigger of her 9mm handgun, the hot casings falling to the floor.

“Bad people have guns, and the only people who can stop them are the good people with guns,” she said, reloading her weapon. “That’s exactly what went wrong the other night.”

The day after the Orlando shootings, McCloud, 48, joined the Pink Pistols, a pro-gun organization that asks members to set up task forces to protect gay centres, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry guns. Membership had waned in recent years, with some of its 45 branches becoming inactive.

But in the hours and days after Omar Mateen’s murder of 49 people at Pulse gay club, the group’s Facebook page was inundated. The inbox of founder Gwendolyn Patton filled up. Her phone rang off the hook.  (more...)

Meet the Pink Pistols, an armed gay-protection group whose membership has surged since Orlando

Pinkshirts are the new brownshirts.

We're here and we're queer