A trio of pro-gun groups has come together to declare December 14, the one-year anniversary of last year's horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, "Guns Save Lives Day." Because when you think about all the people saved by America's many, many handguns and rifles and shotguns, what springs to mind but the day when 26 innocent people—20 of them children—were slaughtered with guns?

According to a press release issued jointly by the Second Amendment Foundation, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and DefendGunRights.com, Guns Save Lives Day is dedicated to reminding people that "crazy people, criminals and gun control extremists prefer unarmed victims."

"The event is designed to counteract what certainly will be a day of activism and misinformation from the gun prohibition lobby," Larry Ward, founder of DefendGunRights.com, says. "We wanted to ensure that the public has the facts on gun rights and understand how many Americans stand with them in defense of Second Amendment rights."

My initial thought upon seeing the Guns Save Lives Day press release and website was that the whole thing was an elaborate hoax, a subtle scam put on by a political prank group like the Yes Men. There's no way gun advocates are clueless enough to sponsor a pro-gun day on the anniversary of the Newtown tragedy, especially not with a logo that uses a handgun to make the letter L, right? Wrong.

One call to the Second Amendment Foundation and I was on the phone with Dave Workman, who works for both the S.A.F. and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Workman confirmed that Guns Save Lives Day is authentic. "It's real," he said before asking me if I was originally from Los Angeles.

People in support of Guns Save Lives Day can sign a petition saying as much at GunsSaveLivesDay.com. Once there, you can also share with your Facebook friends the latest Guns Save Lives Day "meme": A big red heart graphic with "Guns Save Lives" written on it.

In an interview with the Seattle Times, Alan Gottlieb, president of the Washington-based S.A.F. said Guns Save Lives Day organizers "are not planning on doing anything that’s insensitive whatsoever."