Prejudices about Gun Owners

In another thread, @Harvey shared this article:
https://www.gunnewsusa.com/2019/10/13/3-of-the-most-common-prejudices-about-gun-owners-in-america/

It’s true that false prejudices about groups of people exist. We have all seen it and we all try to not be that way ourselves - and we fail from time to time. Here’s a blog post that might help us have better conversations:

https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/civilly-talking-to-anti-gunners/

How do we combat the false stereotypes about gun owners?

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By not living up to the stereotypes. By talking about those stereotypes openly and how they may be in accurate and why.

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These issues have to be addressed in rational conversations and, at least what I have been seeing in the past few years is that it is difficult to impossible to have a rational discussion with someone on the anti2A side. By throwing out the choice between guns and children or “common sense gun control” without any response to how the same legislation has previously failed. The biggest problem I see is that if we give an inch, even though it doesn’t help, they will continually want another inch.
I would venture to guess that we need is young contemporaries standing up in high schools and colleges as pro 2A so that it gains steam in younger groups.

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I have to admit that I have prejudices about gun owners. Especially those that seem to think they should own a lot of guns.

I tend to favor them and have found that, if they are carrying open (I often OC in Lexington, KY), they are easy to chat with and quite friendly. I also strive to contain my jealousy, but that’s a different thread.

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I don’t see much open carry in Louisville but notice a lot of folks who are carrying.

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The Buddha teaches us that the only real change in the world is a change of heart. Not sure if he mentioned how difficult that can be in ourselves, let alone achieving it in someone else.

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I’ve wondered about this a lot. It is an uphill battle because major news outlets and a majority of the entertainment industry are against it. So everytime someone sees a gun owner, it’s a mass shooter, it’s ISIS, it’s a gang shooting drive-by, it’s John Rambo, it’s John Wick, etc. I’ve mentioned it in other threads but normal, every-day, law-abiding gun-owners are exceedingly boring. No one wants to hear about “I carried all day and nothing happened”.

All of us in the firearms industry in one way or another KNOW about the common self-defense uses of firearms, because it’s common in the circles of news/entertainment that we hang out in. But huge swaths of the population never hear about it because its never on any of the major news outlets, and its rarely on the local news/newspapers.

No one knows who Stephen Willeford is. Stephen Crowder (I am generally not a fan of his comedy, but his debunking of anti-gun positions is pretty spot on) did one of those “prove me wrong” on a Texas campus not far from Sutherland Springs, and NONE of the college students had even heard of Mr Willeford nor even of the shooting (probably because it was stopped by an AR15).

The question of combating false stereotypes means how can we get normal, every-day, law-abiding gun-owners in front of the general population in a positive manner. I don’t have an answer for that…

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Isn’t that the truth? We’re normally more level-headed and polite because we know the consequences if we’re not.

An armed society is a polite society.

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Be polite, be CLEAR when explaining things. Leave the media out of it. Bring only known truths to the discussion. Be calm.

A lot of people think because we are gun owners means we are OK with mass shootings and have no remorse. That couldn’t be more wrong. I tend to think gun owners feel worse when these things happen. We just understand that laws don’t deter criminals, especially if they are having mental issues.

I know a few people that called me a crazy gun owner after they found out I shoot competition with my kids. Nope, it’s safer than high school sports!!!

I did have an acquaintance at the brew pub I frequent tell me we shouldn’t have fully semi automatic assault weapons. I simply asked her to go do research on what she just told me because she wouldn’t listen to my reasoning. She refused. I asked her to stop spreading lies on a topic that she knows nothing about. That at leas shut her up but she will never be convinced otherwise.

As far as boring, I do consider myself boring, I just drive a sports car in the summer! My tattoo artist wanted to do this crazy tat in memory of my dog, nope. I just want his paw print and name on my calf because I’m boring. He was very disappointed.

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I saw an anti-gun post on a social media platform a few months ago. I asked, in a polite manner, why that person felt that way. She answered my question with a standard myth that she had heard from the Left. I asked, again in a Polite manner, if I could explain what was wrong about her post. She let me do just that. Long story short, I got her to understand what carrying a gun meant and why I do. She actually apologized and asked if I knew of any sites where she could get better informed.

I had to really restrain myself, I could have sent her volumes of info but sent just a couple and told her if she wanted more, to just ask.

My point is this, if we take a civil approach to explaining guns the uninformed, we will get a better and correct message across.

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I’ve interacted with you on our Facebook page, @MrPuma2072, I know how helpful and educational you are! I’m sure you did a great job and am thrilled that she responded so well!

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Good quote. I believe it was from Robert A. Heinlein’s Time Enough for Love

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