Sad Panda Alert: Fr. Michael "Snuffy" Pfleger at SAFR Chicago

I'll be honest: I was a little disappointed with the attendance at the Second Amendment Freedom Rally this year. Last year's crowd was larger, probably at least partly because the Heller decision and the presidential election energized a lot of casually pro-gun people. By comparison, this year's crowd was smaller . . . . but it was hard not to notice that the famous Father Michael "Snuffy" Pfleger of the Snuffy and JJ Show came out to protest us with a whopping three followers and no Jesse Jackson. I'm not kidding; this photo is not doctored in any way and there's no tricky use of angles. This is just the best Snuffy could do.

Incidentally, if you look closely, you can see a kid bravely holding up the wall in the background so that it won't fall, snuffing Snuffy and his three loyal disciples. Kane was interested in the SAFR event and all, but here he's staring at the police officers. He has just discovered that the Chicago PD uses four-wheel ATVs . . . with blue strobe lights . . . . and street tires. Naturally, he is impressed.
That's Kenny Polhamus of KAP Guns grinning like a drunken tourist in some poor girl's spring break photo (that would make you the young lady, Snuffy.) What I really didn't get was the purpose behind showing up with four people holding incomprehensible signs. The NRA is a corporate gun dealer? Wha? Let's look at all the ways that's odd:

• The NRA doesn't sponsor the SAFR, Snuffy. That would be the ISRA and IllinoisCarry with a lot of help from the Second Amendment Sisters, Pink Pistols, and others. CORE was a big help this year (yes, the Congress Of Racial Equality.) The NRA didn't even send a representative this year, although an NRA member set up a table with NRA literature.
  
• The NRA actually does sometimes sell guns, usually commemorative items, but I wouldn't say it's a gun dealer in any normal sense of the word. Either way, you don't explain why it's a bad thing to be a gun dealer. Are you assuming that people will see the words "gun dealer" and think "Heavens to Murgatroyd, not in my neighborhood!"? I don't see that happening.
• If you're going to be a gun dealer, is it better to be a private company than a corporation? Why?

(Thanks to Robb Allen for the Sad Panda icon and Chris Conmy for the photos from SAFR. Click the Panda to see Robb's blog; click the photos to see Chris's other photos.)