Depends on the person.ClarkLZeuss wrote:One of my friends pointed out the same thing recently: whenever someone says it's preferable to call the cops than carry a gun, they have actually - albeit unknowingly - stated that guns are the solution. But if you point this out to them, they will usually respond with something like, "Well, the police are professionally trained in handling firearms." This is where the rubber really meets the road. How do we respond to this? I think this kind of mindset would be labeled by folks like Mark Levin as "statist" - trusting in the State to do everything for you. So how do we dismantle this thinking?Mithras61 wrote:I'm suggesting that bringing out the point that their thinking is flawed, that they are willing to see violence done (just don;'t want the responsibility of handling their own problems), and that they thenselves are actually responsible for their own safety may be a way through the morass.
As an example, two people I took to the range about a year and a half ago: He's a scientist, PHD candidate, and his sister is just a general stereotypical hippie.
This very subject came up. (i.e. "The cops will come and they are professionals highly trained to use guns, etc"
So I proposed an experiment.
I wagered that I could teach his sister, inside of one day, to shoot a target at 10 yards, with the typical "two on the chest, one in the head" move. after a few hours of instruction. If she was able to to it, he'd take me and her out to a nice expensive steak dinner. If she was unable to do it, I'd take him and her to an expensive seafood dinner.
(No bias on her part, either way she got dinner out of it!)
After an hour and a half of practice, she did wonderfully; making a raggedy hole in the chest ring, and another somewhat raggedy hole in the head.
She had such a good time, she now shoots IDPA or IPSC somewhere in San Antonio.
He changed his tune somewhat after that. After seeing his sister have such a ball, he gave up thinking guns didn't belong in the hands of "private citizens", and that they could adequately defend themselves with them. He even shot a few rounds of IDPA, but decided guns weren't for him. He mostly supports the private ownership of weapons, but he's still for an AWB. (I still have work to do!)
You bring up another point that touches on something I didn't want to get into, but figure what the heck.
I think a lot of people on the "other side" of issues (here, I mostly mean "righties" but both sides are guilty of this) like to dehumanize people that disagree with them.
Your average person that believes that guns arent for private citizens isn't a communist or a statist because they believe that. Most of the time, these people honestly believe that guns are these magical voodoo objects that only chosen ones can handle, like it's some kind of sword in a stone.
Others have a problem with the NRA member stereotype. (a stereotype which we, or the NRA doesn't do a good enough job of breaking, and at times seems to encourage!) The NRA and other advocacy orgs need to do a better job reaching out to others to get them to the correct side of the fence.
We as gun owners need to do better to welcome those folks that might indeed be "statist, leftists" to the right side of the gun issue!
