Listen Up, Gays: They're Coming to Recruit You

You might've seen a variation of this poster around Capitol Hill over the past few days:



The streets.

The guy on the right looks a little youthful, no?

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No, it's not a joke. Other posters include wise sayings like, "Keep Calm, Carry Guns" illustrated bizarrely with a tree and firearms, or as Megan posted a few days ago, a lesbian couple embracing a rifle with the caption, "Some people dislike gays. Others dislike Guns. We should not base our laws on."

The streets.



The proper response to an arson is... 1) prohibit you and other law-abiding citizens from buying gasoline.

2) prohibit you and other law-abiding citizens from buying any flammable fluids, matches and lighters.

3) prosecute the perpetrator of the crime

The QR code on all of the posters lead to the same pro-gun website that prompts readers to decide whether guns are aor a. If you click on the "right" answer—useful tool—you're directed to a series of pro-gun links that affirm your choice. If you click on the "wrong" answer—liability—you're ushered through a series of increasingly paranoid and/or off topic questions that equate cyber crime and prohibition with gun crime, or hypothesize how many criminals you'll have to fight off in your life time. Each question is multiple choice, like this:

The questionnaire is supposed to underscore how important it is for you to be armed to the teeth all times. The arguments aren't new or particularly convincing, I just find it striking that a traditionally conservative movement is branching out to recruit gays and lesbians.

It's hard to know who's responsible for putting the posters up all over Capitol Hill. "Nale Dixon," who's credited for drawing the cartoon of the gay couple, returns no search results online. The pro-gun website is run by a dude named Oleg Volk, "An American," but that doesn't necessarily mean he's responsible for papering the hill with them. Without someone to credit, it's impossible to glean the posterer's intentions.

Perhaps being courted by a traditionally right-wing, conservative movement is refreshing and progressive, but it could also just be really effective concern trolling. What better way to make people feel unsafe in gay-friendly Capitol Hill than by slyly referencing homophobia and hate crimes in pro-gun propaganda plastered on every street corner?