How to change the paradigm? How to escape the cultural stereotype we've been chained to by decades of relentless and almost unopposed anti-gun propaganda – a stereotype according to which gun license holders, gun ownersh, hunters, shooters, gun collectors, gun enthusiasts, gun buffs in general, and even airsoft and paintball enthusiasts are OK to be discriminated against, called "Rambos" or "Cowboys", and either jokingly or not compared to criminals, terrorists, neo-nazi sympathizers, racists, and mass shooters?

The idea of the Firearms United network to escape the vicious circle that fuels the anti-gun stereotypes is so simple that nobody else had thought of it before, at least in Europe: a massive, organized act of civism that will go to show how gun owners community is upright and fundamental for our society and does not deserve to be compared to the likes of mass murderers.

All those who adhere should take pictures of themselves while donating blood – possibly while wearing the Firearms United apparel if they have purchased any on the website www.iamthegunlobby.eu – and publish those pictures on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with the privacy set on "public" and the hashtag #THEGUNLOBBYSAVESLIVES.

Of all pictures published between June 1 and June 17, five will be drawn to receive a 'swag bag' with a Firearms United T-shirt, cap, and patch.

While this may not be a most "orthodox" way to promote gun rights, it will be a great gesture to show the society how the real nature of the gun owners community could not be further away from the idea of secretive, almost sectarian, racist, violent and potentially murderous group of machinegun-toting ignorants that the anti-gun propaganda has been depicting us like for decades every time a criminal, a terrorist or a madman gave them an occasion to. We do not shed blood: we protect life. Let's get out there and make a point!