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Cake day: June 26th, 2023

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  • I used to be a gun salesman at a huge destination store. I remember us selling hundreds of guns a day when Clinton was running for President. I’m also a leftist, which was very unusual for a gun salesman.

    One time, we had a trans woman come in, and some of the other salesmen started snickering, but I went right up to her. We started talking about what she was looking for, and it turned out she was pretty knowledgeable, as she’d served in the Marines pre-transition. She was looking for a target pistol, and I found a used CZ-75 Shadow in the back and she was super happy with it. We were talking during the background check and checkout process, and she opened up that people had treated her like an outcast at the range and at her church, and I told her about a place I would shoot that was less-Republican, and I even talked to her about the university church I used to work for that had trans people on staff and hosted the annual transgender day of remembrance and told her that there were kind people out there.

    Some of the other sales guys spent the whole time snickering, but I didn’t care. My managers were thrilled because I was selling to someone that everyone else was ignoring.

    The next week she came in with a few trans friends. They were looking for me because they were interested in getting into shooting but didn’t want to feel judged. There were a few “Chilie’s got some more girlfriends” jokes, but I sold a few more guns.l to people who would end up getting more into the hobby.

    Over time, more and more queer people would come in, but I wasn’t always there, or I’d be with another customer, so the other salespeople would end up having to help them, and it started to click that they were just people. Eventually, I got promoted away from the department, and I eventually left the store for a real career, but I got to watch the store become a kind of destination shop for queer folk looking for guns. And more remarkably, I saw some pretty hard-core right wing people open their minds a bit.

    I’m not going to claim miracles, but the department probably went from 90% anti-trans to like 40%, which isn’t amazing, but is a huge improvement. I’m still a little proud that I was able to help start that trend, and I still have left-leaning friends ask me gun advice, or ask me to teach them and their kids about firearm safety even if they hate guns.









  • It’s also worth noting that being in the country illegally is not actually a crime in the US. It’s a civil issue.

    The criminal system seeks pnlunishment for a crime against society. The civil system seeks relief from famages, and can take many more forms.

    If someone is convicted of a crime and pays a fine or serves their prison sentence, they’ve paid their debt to society and the matter is closed.

    If you want to compel someone to do something or cease doing something, you need the civil system. For instance, if someone builds a fence over your property line, you need a civil ruling to force them to remove it.

    The same thing goes for the government. Illegal immigration is a civil issue because it’s the only way for the ruling to compel the person to leave.