I’ve decided, like five minutes ago, that I’m starting a new series on Bearing Arms. I’m calling it “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.”

I have, and I’m sure you have as well, noticed a disturbing number of ignorant pictures being posted either about gun owners or by gun owners that have something glaringly wrong with them. Take the featured image of this article for example: notice anything peculiar about the image?

How ’bout now?

Oh dear. For those of you who may not be seeing it, this poster child for gun owners has the clipazine of his gun inserted backwards. Brilliant, right? But if you saw someone walking around like an idiot, would you say something to them?

Another place I tend to see a ton of stupid images is when I’m searching for stock photos for graphics or memes. This is something I also see a lot of:
Uh, that could be more effective than fiber, but not strongly advised. Do you see what I’m seeing? Here’s an imbecile with his finger on the trigger of his gun while it’s still stuffed down the back of his pants. I frequently send sites like Shutterstock and AP Images feedback on pictures like these because if we don’t call them out, who will?

Women are the largest growing demographic of new gun owners in America, and while I don’t personally advocate carrying a firearm in a purse, can you spot what’s wrong with this stock image?

That’s right: the gun’s trigger is not being protected in this satchel. Not a smart way to carry.

It’s extremely important that we continue to stand up for our Second Amendment rights, but it’s also important that we do a good job of policing the information put out by the media, general public and even our own side. Respectfully, of course (some of you have less tact than Hillary Clinton wearing a hot mic after a bottle of Pinot Grigio). After all, we don’t need to give anyone another reason to hate us but we also want to make sure they know we’re watching and we’ll make sure they portray us accurately.

Ultimately, whether it’s stupid pictures our side is posting or ignorant images the other side is releasing to attempt to make us look stupid, it’s up to us to police it. If you see an image worthy of being called out in this new series, send it over to [email protected] and we may feature it in an upcoming post!