The point was made here that we who would champion gun rights are kinda rusty on offense. Me, I'm Rusty all the time, but that's not important now.
One group we need to make contact with is the group of Americans who aren't gun enthusiasts. People who can take 'em or leave 'em, no big deal. We can't do that by saying the 2A was intended to keep the .gov in line. That might put you in the "lunatic fringe" camp with those who don't know better. The anti-gunners like to talk "common sense". That's what we need to do.
Self defense makes sense, and Oleg Volk has some good images and makes some great points in many of his works.
Statistics make sense (sometimes). They have been used to great effect. Here's some I'd like to see:
- Annual gun sales vs. guns used in crime. I'm fairly sure this would show the vast majority of guns are not used in crime, as well as making the anti-gunners come back with the argument that criminals get their guns illegally.
- Ammunition sales vs. bullets used in crime. This one can be put in many different ways. How about the number of 7.62x39 rounds sold in the US vs. the number used in gun crime? The AK is the weapon of choice for criminals, after all.
After all, it's just common sense.
6 comments:
Targets?
If we go for the "don't care one way or the other" middleaged crowd, you're going to have a few problems. While they can be swayed, largely by pointing out that the government isn't responsible for their personal safety...
But the majority have already been claimed for the Brady Bunch camp, or have fallen to the point where they will always go for anything labeled 'sensible gun control', no matter how much you educate them.
We'd get some people, but not near as many as you'd expect.
I'd rather we aim for getting people before they get brainwashed into the Brady Bunch. I dunno if that'll be feasible, though.
By Gattsuru (not verified) at 2006-07-15 18:49
My dad was like that. He thought the AWB banned machine guns. This from a guy with over a half dozen guns himself! He wasn't into gun issues, I'm sure he just thought they'd always be there and never bothered to look deeper.
It is all about information. Unfortunately, most information outlets are controlled by the apathetic or anti-gunners. I'm hoping we get more mainstream coverage like Florida vs DC's crime rates, but I'm not holding my breath.
Now that we are making headway, hopefully more people will start to question the "conventional wisdom" on gun possession, self defense, etc.
Our best way to get to the younger audience is to promote shooting clubs in school. It would go a long way towards educating kids about guns and gun safety.
By Rustmeister at 2006-07-15 20:06
I think it would be great if pocket pistols and derringers could be legally considered the equivalent of 3-inch blades. In other words, no CCW should be required for them.
By Tycug (not verified) at 2006-07-16 13:57
Pocket Pistols?
I think pocket pistols already have a pretty hefty negative connotation attached to them. I don't think CCW-free carry is going to happen soon, either way - it's got too many of the "Don't Care" crowd up in arms. Even if we win the battle, we'd end up with a lot more places labeled with 'No Guns Inside' signs, and that means we start losing the war.
I'd like to see more shooting clubs, although I dunno if we have the political currency to start making them more popular, at the very least we can individually attempt to sponsor them.
I'd like to see companies focus on pistols for new users. Rifles, the market does exist - you can get a decent .22lr gun for less than a hundred, despite the stupid taxes on the weapon. But a working pistol or revolver will set you back two or three times that, which doesn't make much sense from a materials standpoint. Even if it's big (I'd actually prefer it to be so), ugly, and a pain to clean, a good starter pistol to stand opposite the Marlin Model 60 or knockoffs would do the ideals a hell of a lot of good.
By gattsuru (not verified) at 2006-07-16 14:46
genocide
Genocide must be proceded by the guns being removed from the target population, and please remember it can happen anywhere. Read your history books as a means to not repeat the past mistakes.
By oldshooter at 2006-07-16 22:19
CCW
The recent intrest in CCW in this country has devided many pro-gun people about the need to get a permit before they are allowed to exersize their God given right of self protection. I would love to hear a debate on this subject in this forum.
By oldshooter at 2006-07-16 22:26
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