There has got to be a better way
I want to throw something out here for comment. It concerns the way that the pro gun side of things gets its message out. It seems to me that the other side does a great job of portraying us as extremists bent on ultra right wing revolution. Charlton Heston (I love the guy so don't take this the wrong way) standing up with his famous cold dead fingers remark was only fodder for that kind of thing from the far left.
I am pretty liberal, at least socially. My wife is even more so. She grew up in Westport, Ct with a bust of JFK in the living room. She went to Yale, worked for a feminist magazine as an editor and has voted Democratic all her life. She has never fired a gun in her life. That said, I was able to talk with her and she now not only "allows" but supports my shooting and that of our 7 year old son. I have also heard her respond to challenges from her liberal friends when they question her about it and she borders on being vehement.
The point I am trying to make is that I brought her around with calm reasoning, education and most importantly by demonstrating what a firearm is and is not as well as a whole slew of safety procedures. Before you think that it was easy, she is not only liberal but is half Greek and half Jewish. She knows how to take an intractable stand.
If she can be brought around then lots of other people who have just been listening to the crap the media puts out can too. While I appreciate the extreme response to the extreme attacks on our rights, those are just battles and the real victory in my mind will come with educating the masses.
What can be done? Some of the things I do is issue standing invitations to all my friends and relatives to come on out and shoot. Some will never even consider it but most are at least curious regardless of where they think they stand. The club I am joining is exceptionally safety conscious which is a big help. I also make sure that people know I shoot. I definitely do not fit into the stereotype they have been given by the media.
What else? I am looking for the optimistic response here. I know lots of folks think that building a bunker and waiting for the feds to start confiscating firearms is all we have to look forward too. If that is the viewpoint that prevails then I am sure it will eventually come to pass.
I am pretty liberal, at least socially. My wife is even more so. She grew up in Westport, Ct with a bust of JFK in the living room. She went to Yale, worked for a feminist magazine as an editor and has voted Democratic all her life. She has never fired a gun in her life. That said, I was able to talk with her and she now not only "allows" but supports my shooting and that of our 7 year old son. I have also heard her respond to challenges from her liberal friends when they question her about it and she borders on being vehement.
The point I am trying to make is that I brought her around with calm reasoning, education and most importantly by demonstrating what a firearm is and is not as well as a whole slew of safety procedures. Before you think that it was easy, she is not only liberal but is half Greek and half Jewish. She knows how to take an intractable stand.
If she can be brought around then lots of other people who have just been listening to the crap the media puts out can too. While I appreciate the extreme response to the extreme attacks on our rights, those are just battles and the real victory in my mind will come with educating the masses.
What can be done? Some of the things I do is issue standing invitations to all my friends and relatives to come on out and shoot. Some will never even consider it but most are at least curious regardless of where they think they stand. The club I am joining is exceptionally safety conscious which is a big help. I also make sure that people know I shoot. I definitely do not fit into the stereotype they have been given by the media.
What else? I am looking for the optimistic response here. I know lots of folks think that building a bunker and waiting for the feds to start confiscating firearms is all we have to look forward too. If that is the viewpoint that prevails then I am sure it will eventually come to pass.
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I will try to answer your post, calmly as I can.
We demand our rights because they exist in black and white, at least to those whom can read and comprehend. WE get called "extreme" because some don't like our view point. Some DO get carried away, granted, that to me though is PASSION for the cause.
IF we were talking about a gay pride march, this wouldn't be an issue. They have rights (maybe not in the sense they think) and we dare not trample them or QUESTION them or we are called "homophobes".
If we were talking about a "feminists" right to abortion, they same thing applies. (although I see nothing in the constitution that spells out the right to murder the unborn)
If we were talking about "equal oppertunity", we dare not point out that giving someone a "leg up" based on color and NOT ability. If we mention that, we are labeled a "racist".
So you see, those from the left, point to us and call us "extremists", "red necks", and "hicks". They say these things, because we have a very real right, that IS spelled out in the constitution. God gave us that right (others as well), and the constitution RESTRICTS the Fuds from passing laws restricting those rights. So you see, it matters nit how "nice" we play, they want those rights to vanish all the same.
If your wife is as "liberal" as you say, her mind probably will change again. All it will take is some event, say like a mugger pointing a gun at her to take her purse, and she will blame guns for the woo's of the world again.0 -
Freemind,
Believe me I am completely in agreement with you (except the God part but don't let that get in the way, I still believe the right exists with or without divine origin). I firmly believe that the second is there so I have the ability to shoot dead anyone who tries to take away my rights and as a reminder to the legislators that if they go too far, a lead projectile will be the means of bringing things back into line with the Constitution. (Regardless of what political affiliation they might espouse)
What I am talking about is not what is right or wrong but about how to win the people over who are being manipulated with fear by the anti-gun crowd. Do you want to fight this battle with bullets? I would rather not. I will if pressed but it is nowhere near that point yet and there is plenty that can be done to not let it get there. It is a failure on our part if it ever does.
What I am asking for is ideas on how to persuade the majority of people in this country to support our view, the right view, over the crap that is spewed by the anti constitution crowd. The pro-gun is viewed as a movement consisting of paranoid, right wing, middle class, middle aged overweight white dudes. I only fit into some of those button holes and know lots of people who do not at all who love their guns and their country. There are a lot more who could be reached if the perception that has been put on the pro-gunners by the other side were countered. Look at a group like the Pink Pistols. Are they being embraced for their support of the 2nd or are they marginalized and looked upon as an amusing side show. I bet they can shoot as straight as any of you when it comes to a firearm regardless of how they choose to holster their gun (sorry couldn't resist)
I am much more interested in keeping my shooting a recreation and as self defense than I am taking on a government.0 -
There is nothing you should do other than:
Educate people about our rights, spelled out in the constitution.
Offer to take non-gunners shooting.
That is about all you can do. You can't "scare" people into beliving in the constitution.0 -
self preservation is common sense. It is as simple as that, many great men knew this and spelled it out on that "god damned piece of paper". 0 -
quote:Originally posted by kyplumber
self preservation is common sense. It is as simple as that, many great men knew this and spelled it out on that "god damned piece of paper".
Common sense is anything but common. Look around you and how much do you see?
So how do you propose to reach those who have none? They will be the ones voting and putting people in power that will make the decisions about how this government will (or will not) respect the 2nd Amendment.0
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