It was brought to my attention that Michael Bloomberg’s touring circus will be in Minneapolis tomorrow:
Inspired by the Newtown school shooting, a touring national gun-control campaign endorsed by the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul stops Wednesday in downtown Minneapolis for a rally outside the federal courthouse.
Gun rights advocates are spreading the word and reviewing the legalities of showing up with their firearms.
The “No More Names” rally gets underway at 10 a.m. at the courthouse plaza at 300 S. 4th St. The signature event during the rally is when participants read the names of gun violence victims since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in December in Newtown, Conn.
The six-week-old tour is organized by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of more than 1,000 mayors that says it is the largest gun violence prevention advocacy group in the country.
I’m sure this will be the standard affair. Bloomberg’s posse will arrive, the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul will give some speeches about the dangers of gun violence, and the mayors will duck out and the truck with cruise off before any questions can be fielded. Apparently some gun owners are planning a counter-protests:
A Twin Cities gun-ownership group is advising any of its members who might attend the rally to “be peaceful and respectful” but to also “be recognizable as opposing Bloomberg’s rights-stripping, criminal mayors’ organization with clothing, hats, and/or signage.”
On its Facebook page, the Twin Cities Gun Owners & Carry Forum cautions its supporters to “watch for agitators and don’t take the bait.”
I’m not planning to attend since I have better things to do than give the time of day to a group of exploitative vultures. For those of you planning to attend I encourage you to dress professionally and speak intelligently. While the various local news organizations will happily air somebody dressed slovenly, especially if they also speak unintelligibly, they probably won’t air anybody dressed nicely, especially if they speak intelligently. When given the option between looking like a fool or being ignored it’s best to take the latter. Or you can ignore the whole circus since it’s organizers are irrelevant and undeserving of our attention.