Show #38 - A reading list for the gun culture

[barbwire bob]

Great broadcast with great points.  For enthusiasts of other concerns being a "nut" is a good thing...for us it's disparaging.  It's good to hear someone else, someone of stature in the gun world, speaking sense that should educate us all and be incorporated in our thinking.  I've been called a gun nut by people I work with, I immediately turn it around and call them a bicycle nut, a mall-rat nut, a movie nut, etc...etc...and put them on the defensive and, just as MB said/alluded, I'm asked..."Why do you need that gun?"...I turn it around, "Why do you need the bicycle, that DVD, those walking shoes, etc. etc.",...usually they justify themselves which gives me an opportunity to condense it to..."Oh, because you like what you do and enjoy it...well I do to and I, besides having a God-given right to own a gun, have a constitutional right to have a gun.  Do you have a constitutional right to a bicycle, car, mall, DVD, video game, etc?" 

Basically, I put them on the defensive by being bold (sometimes the lesson "Mama" taught us, to get along, should not be applied!)...in a nice way, of course.  I refuse to be a doormat because I'm a gun owner and just because someone makes fun of guns I don't flee from some idiot's ridicule...who cares what some mindless, gun-hating, idiot thinks, give it back to 'em nicely, in front of people and stick with it, don't back down....and when you get right down to it in the conversation...a lot of the people who made fun of me have guns too and they are both educated and somewhat cowered (due to our society) to admit having/liking guns.  I think of being bold about my gun ownership in conversation as empowerment for cowardly gun owners....understanding that they probably won't pass on gun ownership to their children with the attitude they've learned.

Oh, and for the hard-core gun haters...I never give them a break.  Whatever they dish out about "gun nut" I give them back in triplicate so they end up being the one rightfully portrayed as an intolerant idiot.  Speak with liability in mind of course, pick your times, audience and words and remember, you don't have to respond to them on their time table or premise...don't be goaded into their trap....wait and be prepared! 98% of the time, after a while, they simply learn to shut-up. 

Interestingly enough, many of the hard-core gun haters can be swayed over time.  Seems as though most people simply want to fit in (mama did teach us to get along, right?) and will change their beliefs...the "Sheeple" principle.