January 19 is Gun Appreciation Day.
As dozens of Connecticut families continue to mourn the brutal murder of their sons and daughters, mothers and sisters, and as the nation embarks on a bitter, emotional battle over gun control, some people thought it was a good idea to hold an event aimed specifically at showing appreciation for firearms.
What's more, the event was originally sponsored by American Third Position, a political group that lists President Obama on their list of 10 Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians and describes itself as representing "the unique political interests of white Americans," Media Matters reported.
Civil rights groups have harshly criticized A3P. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) categorizes A3P as a white nationalist hate group, and states that it is a "political party initially established by racist Southern California skinheads that aims to deport immigrants and return the United States to white rule. The group is now led by a coterie of prominent white nationalists." The Anti-Defamation League calls A3P a "white supremacist political party."
An early Friday afternoon visit to the Gun Appreciation Day website reveals that American Third Position has been removed from the 8-page list of sponsors.
We contacted Political Media Inc, the organizing party behind Gun Appreciation Day, and received this statement.
The small hard working staff at Political Media, Inc has been working diligently throughout the Gun Appreciation Day Campaign. The volume of support we have received has been overwhelming. We decided to have an open registration for sponsorship for Gun Appreciation Day put a screening process in place to avoid associating the event or Political Media, Inc. with groups or businesses that might detract from the message.We mistakenly missed one.We have removed the group and reiterate this event is not about racial politics, it is about gun politics. We believe in equal rights of ALL Americans in every race, gender, religion, location and economic class to keep and bear arms as guaranteed to them in the Bill of Rights.
American Third Position still promotes Gun Appreciation Day on its homepage.