I write frequently about guns on this website, and I get more feedback — in comments, on Twitter, in my email — for those articles than I do for any other subject. I get called an idiot. I get asked the same questions over and over. weirdgunBut so far, despite the name-calling, I’ve never gotten anything remotely close to a serious threat. Most of the gun rights supporters who contact me disagree strongly, but that doesn’t mean they’re dangerous.
I just hope no one who disagrees with my belief that we should regulate gun ownership in this country is ever angry enough to add me to this app:
An app in the Google Play Store called “Gunfree Geo Marker” listed the first and last names, social media handles, work phone numbers or addresses, home addresses or name of living complex, as well as location coordinates for activists or people who promoted gun safety regulations.
That’s legitimately terrifying. Distributing the names and addresses of gun control supporters? There’s no way that’s not an implicit threat. “Support our position or we’ll make sure lots of people with deadly weapons know exactly how and where to find you.”
gunIt’s been my experience that while most gun-rights activists are wrong- headed, they are not inherently threatening or dangerous. But clearly this app is meant to intimidate people into not working towards what they think is right. And it only takes one person willing to step over the line to turn this app deadly.
Poster Comment:
Good idea.
