If you’ve answered the poll from this morning, What would you do if your loved ones are hosting a holiday get together and they don’t want you to carry?, you have already started thinking if you’re going to carry with anti-firearm family around. @Beth Alcazar shares some tips on handling the conversations around carrying:
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/5-tips-to-survive-anti-gun-family-gatherings/
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I have been trying applying these techniques for a while now with my mother in law, but my wife and son find it more entertaining to antagonize her!!
Seriously though these are great tips.
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Becky and I are preparing for this at Christmas. My son and daughter are on opposite side of the political and world view spectrum. My daughter is a Chicago lawyer and leans left and my son, a former Marine, currently a student receiving the FREE education he earned through the GI Bill and libertarian.
We took a long weekend together in Philly to visit my mother in August. One evening, I went to bed early and woke up the next morning hearing about the feud that occurred while I was sleeping. My son and daughter got in to a debate about guns and gun control, climate change and being eating meats and being a vegetarian. My wife and mother were with them and were part of the conversation.
Their views on each topic are very different and I was told everything started fine, until my daughter started injecting her legal skills into the conversation. One of the specific things that I heard is that when limits on 2A were discussed, the idea of tanks and war planes being available to the public was discussed. My son pointed out that there are members of the public that currently own tanks and why shouldn’t someone who could afford a F-16 be able to buy one. My daughter responded that those cost millions of dollars and followed with, “So what you are saying is only rich people should be able to own weapons.”
The conversation continued in this manner and my mother and wife tried to bring it around but my daughter persisted in practicing her deposition skills while my son’s head was exploding. He walked away telling her that was not what he said and she was twisting his words. I was proud of my son for walking away and proud of my daughters interrogation skills. I just wish she would reserve those skills for the courtroom or the boardroom and not at a family function.
With Christmas around the corner and both kids planning on coming home, my son has already told us he will not be engaging with his sister.
But the funny part was the discussion on global warming and vegetarianism. My daughter claimed that being a vegetarian reduces the bovine population helping reduce CO2 emissions. My wife, without hesitation asked what her purse, boots an shoes were made of?
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I don’t understand how being a vegetarian has anything to do with cattle. Beef is one of the most nutritious food options for vegetarians. See, cattle only eat vegetables, grasses and grains and such, so beef is simply a concentrated vegetable protein source. Sounds like an ideal vegetarian food to me.
" I like to think that being a vegetarian is about saying yes to things. Like meat. "
“If you like animals, you’ll love meat!”
If vegetarians care so much about animals, why do they eat all their food?
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@David38, thanks for the laugh!
@MikeBKY, I luck out, all three of my kids agree on 2A, but that may be about all they agree on. 
and I LOVE your wife’s response.
With my dad’s family it turns into Glock vs Sig. My dad’s step son carries a Sig too - so we may gang up on my dad who’s a Glock guy. I’ve brought one of my boys to the Sig side as well.
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I use my Air Force SERE training……
Survive - Keep calm and find a “happy place” while family members bring up the subject and tout erroneous data.
Evade - Try and change the subject to something less controversial - Hey how about those [insert favorite football team here] ??
Resist - If evasion does not work, offer factual data to counter arguments and resist the urge to declare in a loud voice how ignorant they are and how they are bringing about the collapse of the free world.
Escape - Grab the keys and let them know you’re going to the corner store for a pack of cigarettes or cranberries…….call them when you get home to let them know you’ve arrived safely and you’ll see them next summer at the family bbq.
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Good read!
I needed to review those again!
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I’m not worried about the 2A convo as it will more than likely devolve into a caliber debate. The dicey part will be from the Never Trump crowd. I think their opinions may have mellowed but that whole Tweet thing drives them up a wall (not that any of them are on Twitter) but his actions are generally considered positive.
Cheers,
Craig6
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It’s usually at my house and the guns aren’t going outside. It’s been discussed enough that it doesn’t get brought up. The last time it was a debate it was about the small children’s safety. So I played out a challenge if any adult could get their hands on a firearm I’d sell it. FYI no guns were sold… If full grown adults looking for guns can’t get them then the kids playing in the playroom certainly aren’t going to stumble onto them.
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Now that’s the kind of drama I can deal with, lol.
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That is what the debate at the mothers day was about…
One lady who I would guess was a mother-in-law of my cousin
said, “what if it just goes off and hurts a child” 
I got so sick of the debate I almost left…
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- What if your car just starts up and drives itself through the wall of the garage and into the children’s table at Thanksgiving?
- What if the propane tank in your grill just explodes and burns the kids in the pool?
- What if the electric carving knife you’re using for that turkey just turns itself on and slices some kids finger off? What then, hmmm?
Sometimes answering a question with a question is a Good Thing. Just sayin’.
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True!
I said similar things of that effect.
I just HATE when someone says, “What if it just goes off”
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The best way not to have any family blowouts is simply to not engage. It’s pretty damn hard if someone namely relatives to have a one-sided argument with them being the only one arguing. Holidays can be hard on everyone. Everyone has heard You pick your friends but you’re stuck with your family.
It’s better to be friendly and just leave at the first opportunity.
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So trueeee!!
You have to learn how to engage around certain topics…
I’m not a liar, but if some subject comes up…claim you have to use the restroom or something to disengage.
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Well it’s best not to even answer your adversary back to start with. Ignore it drives people crazy and you can never be accused of baiting.
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True…
It discusses this same principal in the Bible.
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“Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.” (PROV. 26.4)
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Well I wasn’t aware it went that deep but I thank you for the little lesson. Not trying to upset my family or anyone here in our community, but if there’s any other Irishmen or Irishwomen they know what exactly I’m talking about. Irish are inherently aware of family discord.
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Not just the Irish 
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