Yeto Coolers has cut ties with the NRA Foundation, not that I care all that much.
NRA-ILA quoted NRA past president and USF executive director Marion Hammer saying, “Suddenly, without prior notice, YETI has declined to do business with The NRA Foundation saying they no longer wish to be an NRA vendor, and refused to say why. They will only say they will no longer sell products to The NRA Foundation.”
It’s everywhere, from banks to corporations to homes among hand-wringing parents.
Two weeks after we learn this new parenting life skill in this oh-so-new century of ours, my husband Patrick is on the phone with a mom arranging a sleepover for Rosena. I hear him fumble his way through the gun question. From his responses, I assume the mom is acknowledging that they do have guns. Then there’s the sort of long, awkward silence that seems part and parcel of such conversations before Patrick finally says, “Well, okay, thanks for being so honest. I appreciate that.”
He hangs up and looks at me. “They do keep guns for hunting and protection, but they’re locked up and out of sight,” he tells me. “The mom says that the kids have never tried to get at the guns, but she understands the dangers.” (He had heard in her voice apology, embarrassment, and worry that the guns might mean no sleepover.)
I grimaced in a way that said: I don’t think Rosena should go, and he responded that he thought she should. The two of them then had a long conversation about what she should do and say if she sees a gun. She slept over and had a great time. A lesson in navigating difference, trusting our kid, and phew—no guns made an appearance. And now we know more about our neighbors and our community.
If you didn’t think you were in a [currently] low grade civil war or if you thought that the way to increase your capital with the population is go slink into the shadows, make sure your weapons are hidden, and negotiate and compromise, you’re nothing more than sheep for the slaughter.
I once openly carried because I hate concealed carry, and anyone who tells you that he can make concealed carry as comfortable as open carry is fabulating. I still hate concealed carry, but now I open carry for a different reason. I open carry “For the peace, good and dignity of the country and the welfare of its people.” You’re part of a civil war. You can act like it or just go ahead and give up now and save your folks the hassle.