GOProud's executive director, Jimmy LaSalvia, says he was violently attacked for being gay and that the experience has only strengthened his pro-gun beliefs.
In 2009, the federal .gov passed a law that is supposed to be preventing violent hate crimes against LGBT people. This law is called The Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.
In 1791, the founding fathers added an amendment to the United States Constitution which protects an individual's right to possess a firearm, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense. This is know as The Second Amendment.
Unfortunately for Jimmy LaSalvia concealed carry is not legal in the District of Columbia. He was attacked while riding his bike home from the office, by a group of "black men" he estimates there were eight of them. LaSalvia goes on to say:
Just as I got up to them, the assailant lunged off the sidewalk toward me and delivered a punch across my chest. The momentum of my bicycling drove me into his fist and arm, causing a shocking pain like I’ve never felt before. Just as I began to realize what was happening, I heard it. The words are still ringing in my ears as I write this — “Fucking faggot!”
The wind was knocked out of him, he caught himself before he was knocked to the ground and was now crouching sort of under his bike. At this point he could do was dig in his backpack looking for his phone when he heard one of the thugs say, “Does he have a gun?”
So I kept my hand in my backpack, allowing them to wonder whether I was reaching for a gun. Then a couple of them started to run away, and the others soon followed. I got back on my bike and pedaled as fast as I could out of there.
When I got home, I began to reflect on what had happened, and more disturbingly what could have happened. I am in contact with the LGBT unit of the police department to file a report. But I’ve thought a lot about the turning point of the situation — the fact that one of them thought that I might have a gun. None of them said, “There’s a law against antigay hate crimes!” That wasn’t the deterrent. It was the possibility that I might have had a gun that saved my life Friday night.
The author says he was raised around hunting and hasn't hunted in years, but will be buying a firearm to protect him while at home. He also no realizes the power of a gun in the hands of a law-abiding citizen.
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