Newsweek:

“Your argument is pure apple sauce. Enjoy your 20 seconds of fame, you fcuktard.”

A man named Jim is reading out some of the vitriolic abuse he’s received over the past few days via the Internet. Previously known only by his Twitter handle, @Hyperationalist, Jim last week launched a Change.org petition calling for the open carry of guns at the Republican National Convention, which will be held in Cleveland in July. The petition has ganered international news coverage and prompted responses from the Secret Service and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, as well as online haters.

David Codrea has some salient comments:

You have to give “The Hyperationalist” credit — his fake Change.org petition for open carry at the RNC Convention has been a highly successful exercise in both advanced trolling and in applied Alinksy Rule 5 ridicule. With over 50,000 signatures amassed at this writing, and noting all the major press coverage, a primary goal of going viral has unquestionably been achieved in a big way.

Of less certainty is how many people were actually taken in by a parody designed to embarrass and to exploit venue realities – besides all those “professional reporters” who got sucked in and treated it as real. Some of us figured we were being played from the outset. Of those who signed, how many actual gun rights supporters added their names is unknown, as many signatories are undoubtedly anti-gun/anti-Republican “progressives” gleefully piling on.

[ … ]

Carrying at the convention is a moot point anyway. Aside from it violating venue rules, the Secret Service flat-out won’t allow it. If they did allow guns, we’d have no reason to suspect the outcome would be any different than we saw play out at NRA’s Annual Meeting last year in Nashville. Almost 80,000 attendees gathered in a setting where lawful concealed carry was widespread.

David had him figured, and so did I.  The first time I saw this I was tempted to comment on it, but only for a split second.  This is the first attention I’ve given to this issue.  After blogging for ten years, I’ve become fairly skilled at spotting trolls.  Not perfect, mind you, but fairly skilled.  Look, if they want to have an intelligent conversation about guns, we do that every day around these parts.  Furthermore, I’m willing to engage smart debate with anyone over guns if they have clean motives, play fairly and are sincerely interested in learning.  Tell me the next time you see a progressive who meets those requirements.

The gun rights community is going to have to get better at spotting insincere overtures like this, trolls who want to make us look bad.  Put your thinking cap on, don’t jump at the first thing you see, and when you do engage, make it the person and venue of your choice.  That’s why, although I agree with Mike on 99.9999% of everything else, I didn’t like Mike Vanderboegh’s choice to go on the Alan Colmes show.  Colmes was never going to be anything but what he is, a dishonest and filthy rag.  As Sun Tzu teaches, pick both the battles and the time of engagement.