A short 🧵 on Montana fires and the constant diversion from Daines, Zinke and Gianforte that “forest management” is to blame.

The East Fork Fire, west of Olney MT is burning in one of the most intensively logged/“managed” areas of Montana. This is a current fire map. This is google earth image of same area before the fire. Clearly visible are dozens of roads new clear cuts, old cuts, thinned areas etc. According to Repubs, all we need to do is “manage more” and fire won’t happen. If that were the simple answer, there would be no fire here.

🧵A lot of you saw @propublica article by @CoreyGJohnson where I discuss gun industry / @NSSF fully embracing irresponsible marketing practices...Here are just a few examples: This is Black Rain Ordnance "BRO" Customized Three Percenter (for the aspiring domestic terrorist??): Next, we have the ever-useful Wilson Arms rifle for the patriotic self-appointed vigilante savior of our American urban cities... which may or may not be populated with the "sorts of people" who need some "super sniping"

🧵UPDATE on MONTANA CLIMATE CASE - NEW LAST MINUTE FILING

Yesterday, @MTAGKnudsen & assistants filed a "writ of supervisory control" - last-minute plea to the MT Supreme Court to stop the case from proceeding in district court (this is their 8th attempt to stop the case) My Sidenote: This is same AG who inserted himself to dismiss charges against a guy who pulled a gun on people in Helena restaurant - same AG who played doctor by pressuring health care professionals who refused to prescribe ivermectin to covid patients (the list keeps going...)

🧵Important Truths about AR15 & its central symbolism in Radicalized MAGA Culture

The right continues to spin myths. The left gets stuff wrong. If we want to make good decisions, then we must deal with reality.

#1 - The AR15 was specifically designed as a tactical weapon of war "Tactical" was once prohibited by the industry-Why? Because "tactical" means "planned offensive military action" and reasonable people knew to avoid such marketing. Today, cops and security guards are killed in these shootings because that's what tactical gear is designed to do.

🧵KYLE RITTENHOUSE to face civil charges for killing in Kenosha. Despite his heroic status to the Authoritarian right, here's a thread featuring the teachings and warnings of respected firearms authorities that explains why Rittenhouse may be in for a tough time in civil court: Rittenhouse was found not guilty in criminal court, but civil liability for his actions involve a much broader timeline. He was aware of and purposefully entered a known dangerous situation with a loaded gun. The most respected trainers preach the opposite.

🧵Since the excellent NYT Opinion a couple days ago, "America's Toxic Gun Culture," I've received a lot of messages from reporters curious about how the industry empowers this toxicity. Explaining this through lens of one illustrative gun company can shed light on how it works: POF (Patriot Ordinance Factory), like many AR15 makers, did not exist until the 2000s. POF's product hook is incorporating small functional improvements, (part of "continuous improvement" of all AR rifles sold to U.S. consumers - in many ways better than what military has)

🧵Talking guns and responsibility during Thanksgiving holiday & not losing family/friends:

Many of us will encounter people over the holidays espousing irresponsible and dangerous positions on guns interwoven into authoritarian right-wing politics.

How to artfully unwind: The Right has adopted absolute positions that doom reasonable conversation and that are unworkable in any democracy. You need to start by dismantling those absolute positions because no right or action in any functioning country is absolute.

🧵Colorado Springs, hate, guns, and the sickness on the American Right. Yes, it has changed and here is a recent history

Prior to 2007, American gun culture was generally focused on hunting, target shooting, and self-defense. Here is a graph of gun sales over the last 20 years: I was in the industry from '95-2020 and up until about 2006, while there certainly were a few "military type" or "assault" weapons sold, they were not the focus of the industry. In fact, the display & marketing of this "tactical" gear was frowned upon if not explicitly prohibited

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Trump just sent a message to his militia. This is another “stand back and stand by” like the one he sent before Jan 6 and the kind he sent with “good people on both sides”

This is thread on why Trump & the Authoritarian right are so reliant on guns and armed extremists To understand the power of armed intimidation: Consider that you are at a dinner party with 9 friends waiting on the 10th. You have wine, discussion and even argument. But it’s civil. Those are your “rules.” But then the 10th shows up with a loaded AR15 strapped to his chest.

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Anyone who thinks we are not dangerously close to armed political violence has not been paying attention to gun culture.

This is a thread about the normalization of armed insurrection in MAGA gun culture through one term seen in this popular gun meme: "Voting from the rooftops" was once relegated to the dark alleys of gun culture. It means "if election does not go my way, I become a sniper." (this is a well-known pic of a guy advertising the idea)

the hat is a classical and very popular Greek reference: "come and take them"

Tired of being trolled about gun terms? A thread to explain history/reality of "assault weapons," semiautomatic rifles, and related terminology:

First, "AR" (as in AR15) doesn't mean "assault rifle" it means "Armalite Rifle" (named for company that originally developed the gun.) "Assault Rife" is term originally given military rifles meant to be used offensively to kill enemies at what many consider close/medium ranges (25-250 yards). Those guns generally include the capability for 3round burst and full-auto (in addition to most common semi-auto mode)

A thread on why second amendment absolutism is a frontline threat to democracy:

In the past few years, gun nuts have claimed that “shall not be infringed” literally means that no law of any sort can be enacted if it limits or slows the ability of anyone to get any weapon This absolutist trend, started by the NRA’s “hell no” to any reasonable action like extending background checks after sandyhook, has grown into a movement of angry men who believe teenagers have the right to own high-cap AR15s and that open carry intimidation is a protected right

Here's a thread for any Media folks - or any Americans who want to understand AR15s/gun terminology.

First - when reporters speak of AR15 and say "it's a high-powered rifle" well, the gun is powerful but relative to the average hunting gun is not that "high powered" Most AR15s are chambered in .223/5.56, which is a relatively small rifle round. But it fires a small bullet (example- 55grain) very fast (about 3200feet per second). A small fast bullet does a lot of damage, especially at close ranges of about 250 yards or less.

Hate Is Good For Business - How the firearms Industry and NRA are using racism to drive sales

As I write in my book, I was at the NRA convention in 2012 when Glenn Beck, the champion of Obama birtherism was the celebrated keynote speaker. The place was packed and electric. At the same convention - I saw this guy, walking through the convention, he was getting high fives and said he was selling the hell out of this Tee-shirt:

A thread on our next shooting a s how the @NRA, @nssf / firearms industry are continuing to radicalize our country with a very specific example:

AR15 company CMMG recently announced their “DISSENT” AR15 pistol: It’s not just any AR15. This gun is one of a growing number of “pistol brace” guns that are meant to evade the regulation set forth in the 1934 National Fireams Act that strictly regulated “short barreled rifles” (guns like this that are very short/easy to hide)

If we want to consider good policy changes then we all need to know the facts about how our county has changed from a time when mass shootings were rare, to now, when we can’t keep track of them. There is no single cause, but let’s be honest about what’s changed with guns/nra. A critical inflection point happened in 2007 when @BarackObama began leading in the polls. I was inside the industry then and I saw many pieces of our current politics snap into place and set the tone for the modern GOP. As the NRA radicalized the Gun industry, gun sales soared.

A thread on why making advancement on gun policy is so hard….

Every day I get the same question: “some these things poll at 80%, why can’t they pass?”

The reason is that gun politics is not just about a policy or two. The truth is that the politics of the @NRA is the very beating heart of the GOP. I know. I lived in the kitchen where this was cooked up.

Beginning in 1999 after Columbine and then solidifying in 2004-05, and then accelerating in 2007 as Barack Obama started to lead …

I know a lot of you are seeing me on TV and hearing about me for the first time. Here is who I am…and why I’m doing what I am doing:

I grew up in a ranch and we had a lot of guns, hunting and shooting with my family . Many of my best days were spent with guns. After college it was like a dream for me to get a job in the shooting industry. I spent 25 years in it and for a while it was like a dream, but that was when the industry knew not to engage in the irresponsible marketing, when it was not all about partisan power.