What do a transgender rights activist, a liberal arts professor, a civil engineer, and a second-wave feminist have in common?
They are all authors who decided to join the Everytown Authors Council in the liberal fight against gun rights, or, in their own words, “gun violence.”
The council, started by a gun control group founded by former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, has over 130 members, all who are either authors or illustrators.
However, after a brief look at the list of authors who signed the pledge, one has to wonder. What kind of authority do these writers think they have? A majority of them are children’s authors, writing such classics as Soul Enchilada, and many of them, while focusing on other careers, dabble in young adult fiction. For example, the council also signed on author Sean Beaudoin, who specializes in teen literature, such as The Infects. It seems like this group is grasping at straws trying to find authorities and celebrities to propagate their agenda. After all, a rant about gun control in a zombie apocalypse novel could come across as just a little out of place.
Author and transgender activist Jennifer Finney Boylan signed onto the pledge. Her latest books include a mystery novel called The Long Black Veil, as well as a slew of self-help books on transgender parenting, relationships, and psychology, specifically: Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders, Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community, and Sexual Metamorphosis: An Anthology of Transsexual Memoirs. Clearly, she is quite the authority on gun control as well.
A better known author, Jodi Picoult, best known for her additions to the Wonder Woman comic book series, also joined the Council. In a Guns.com article by Chris Eger, she is quoted as saying that writers are “singularly suited to speak out on the need for common-sense gun laws,” and that it is the job of an author to initiate a conversation about job control. Why is that exactly? She doesn’t say.
However, the Pledge itself states that “The group uses its collective reach and cultural influence to support common sense solutions proven to save lives from the gun violence that claims 93 American lives every day and injures hundreds more.” What kind of cultural influence do these authors have that will affect gun control so much?
Eger’s article goes on to quote the National Rifle Association, who warned gun owners and advocates to “consider their own consumption of media accordingly.” Agreed. On the other hand, the biggest names on this list are, so far, Gayle Forman, writer of the teen best-seller If I Stay, and Erica Jong, a writer who is best known for her novels about female sexuality; there probably isn’t much danger of NRA members absorbing their work. Some liberal groups are so desperate to push the gun control agenda that they will take anything.
