Sometimes a Picture Suggests a Story. . .

Sometimes a Picture Suggests a Story. . .

Checking my referral logs today, I came across this (click for full size):


The referring URL was a post at Something... and Half of Something from July of last year. Entitled Gay Rights, it linked to a piece I wrote about where a self-described gay liberal had his own epiphany and decided to purchase a gun for self-defense. The reader of that piece then clicked through to my post, Ignorance = Fear. Education is the Key. Interestingly, though, his next click was to my earlier post, "(I)t's most important that all potential victims be as dangerous as they can," and when he left the site, it was to visit Publicola's list of people who offer an introduction to shooting.

Unfortunately the reader was in Amsterdam.

Now, putting together the scant evidence, I am led to the conclusion that this reader is probably gay, and probably worried. As reported by GayPatriot, assaults on gays in Amsterdam have been increasing, and increasingly brazen, but they're being downplayed in the media. A 2005 post at Modern Tribalist details a first-hand account of such a beating, with (broken) links to more. The blog Narcissistic Views on News/Politics reports: Amsterdam Now World Leader in anti-Gay Violence.

I wonder if my reader was a recent victim, or nearly one, and has had his own Awakening?

I have no idea what the laws are in the Netherlands with respect to firearms for self-defense, but somehow I doubt they're very "liberal" (in the original meaning of the term.)