"The Shirt"

Venturing into Gun Rights Activism (or any kind of activism, really), you have to be smart, because the folks that own the media outlets have ties to the lobbying groups behind Gun Control... so we have to think like they do... but not like they do. Its how we bust through the propaganda.

You also have to take risks, but before jumping the gun (pun intended), you have to work through every negative before you pursue that risk. For example, if you use certain logos or even rebuild them with a similar font and then add other little goodies to drive a point, you have to be ready for the fall out, BUT! Make sure that fall out is the least damaging to you as possible, but makes your target look like even more of an ass.

I used to work in advertising and tinkered with graphic design, so, I'm quite aware of copyright laws and how they work. I also know how parody laws work... but that's beside the point in this case. OR IS IT!?!

Over the summer, a Dad-At-Arms pal of mine and I were yapping about Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and how we could really take a jab at them, but on a "troll" level. During that time, Moms Demand's founder, Shannon Watts was pushing the "White Male Nationalist Terrorist Dicks Bad" bull caca. Well, my pal was like, "What if we did this!?!"

The idea: Get a red shirt, write "Moms Demand" on it and then add NAUGHTY stuff to it as well.

In the real world... Ain't nobody got time fo dat!

BUT! 3rd Party Tee-Shirt sites do. So... I got into my graphic tinkerer program and rebuilt the Moms Demand Logo, using a similar font style and the lines in the "flag" a hair longer. Sent it to my Dad-At-Arms pal and he added some naughty stick figures. Here's the shirt:

I know! I know! For many who did not get the full reasons behind "The Shirt," we knew it was a devious and naughty plot, BUT (lots of "buts" here), there was a really really good point behind it.

Now! Before we go further, here is an ACTUAL Moms Demand Action fan, Illinois Rep. Jonathan Carroll (below), wearing the ACTUAL Moms Demand Action TRADEMARKED shirt that the shirt above was replicated from:

As you can see, from both pics above, there are a few differences. If you have ever worked in graphics, you'll notice a bit more, but OUR Shirt DOES NOT include "For Gun Sense In America," which is the organizations FULL and TAXED name: (More Info On Moms Demand Action)

You can also see the "A's" are very different fonts, and our shirt is a bit darker than the one Illinois Rep, Jonathan Carroll is wearing above. So, our shirt, though walking a very tight rope, was actually within "parody" guidelines. We did create a troll shop on Mom-At-Arms, but the links were purposefully broken. It was an act! You couldn't buy these shirts without a personally delivered link to the 3rd Party site. So, we made no outside profit. We actually LOST money because we were the only ones who bought the shirts!

More on "Parody Copyright Laws" : https://corporate.findlaw.com/intellectual-property/parody-fair-use-or-copyright-infringement.html

What's even better, even though we were not seeking profit in a public manner, we did not hide the existence of the shirt either. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America founder, Shannon Watts, and her cronies KNEW ABOUT THE SHIRT!