Tweet
So let me start off by saying that this site is great, and is comprised mostly of friendly and helpful folks that have given me tons of information. One thing i would note though, is that though this site often hosts lively debates and exchange of ideas, we seem to be a very inwardly focused community. The vast majority of people who post here, basically agree on most things. I know that this site is visited by the anti's, a la the faux protests, but we don't really have a lot of people who post here with seriously differing views. We also tend to foster an environment whereby newcomers new to this site and/or to the cause, can be afraid to ask questions, or propose ideas because they are quickly jumped on as "trolls" or "antis", or simply told to use the search button.
There is also the issue that anyone who has been here awhile knows, that conversations tend to be quite cyclical, with the same ideas popping up over and over. These get raised by newcomers, and i think that the old-timers are probably tired of seeing the same issue, so they don't take part. I think this can rob new people of the valuable insight of those experienced people who have been in the trenches for awhile.
What i think would be a good idea would be for a new sub-forum to be created, the focus of which would be to put down in one central area, all the best arguments and beliefs that we as a community hold at our core. Kind of a gun rights apologetics forum.
We have to know that we are unfortunately a minority in this state, and that the media is almost always slanted against us. Gun owners are painted by the anti's brushes, not ours. People who have been raised hearing the mainstream media's views on guns and gun owners, and who find their way to a site like this, are not really presented with a clear picture of who we are or what we believe in to counter the filth they've been force fed. These people have never been presented with concise logic regarding gun rights. The information is all here of course, but it takes a massive amount of time and patience to sift through it all and get a solid idea of why we believe what we believe.
I think a forum dedicated to expressing our beliefs, and addressing the common rhetoric that is dumped on the public's head, including exposing all these recurring feel good gun control laws for what they are, useless, would be a big help to new people, or even to people who might be on the fence.
I can picture multiple stickies by some of our more eloquent members, addressing things that newcomers or fence sitters might benefit from. Like, off the top of my head, the uselessness of the Cal AW law, mag capacity limits, waiting periods, the dangers of discretionary issue, the racist roots of gun control, etc...
Many people hear sensible, reasonable, and common sense repeated ad-nauseum, and they can't fathom why we would be against such minor inconveniences as gun owners, to save the children and police...
Every time LCAV and Brady come out with an argument, or quote some faulty study and misuse data out of context to support their agenda, we here are quick to refute them amongst ourselves. I think it would benefit us to be more aggressive in doing so. Maybe a sticky dedicated to Brady, linking articles where they make statements, then providing clear refutations with data and logic. These kind of side by side comparisons can be quite damaging when people see just how misleading someone is being.
Anyways, just a thought.
ETA: I know this would by nature have significant overlap with the 2nd amendment legal forum, but i think it deserves its own place.
There is also the issue that anyone who has been here awhile knows, that conversations tend to be quite cyclical, with the same ideas popping up over and over. These get raised by newcomers, and i think that the old-timers are probably tired of seeing the same issue, so they don't take part. I think this can rob new people of the valuable insight of those experienced people who have been in the trenches for awhile.
What i think would be a good idea would be for a new sub-forum to be created, the focus of which would be to put down in one central area, all the best arguments and beliefs that we as a community hold at our core. Kind of a gun rights apologetics forum.
We have to know that we are unfortunately a minority in this state, and that the media is almost always slanted against us. Gun owners are painted by the anti's brushes, not ours. People who have been raised hearing the mainstream media's views on guns and gun owners, and who find their way to a site like this, are not really presented with a clear picture of who we are or what we believe in to counter the filth they've been force fed. These people have never been presented with concise logic regarding gun rights. The information is all here of course, but it takes a massive amount of time and patience to sift through it all and get a solid idea of why we believe what we believe.
I think a forum dedicated to expressing our beliefs, and addressing the common rhetoric that is dumped on the public's head, including exposing all these recurring feel good gun control laws for what they are, useless, would be a big help to new people, or even to people who might be on the fence.
I can picture multiple stickies by some of our more eloquent members, addressing things that newcomers or fence sitters might benefit from. Like, off the top of my head, the uselessness of the Cal AW law, mag capacity limits, waiting periods, the dangers of discretionary issue, the racist roots of gun control, etc...
Many people hear sensible, reasonable, and common sense repeated ad-nauseum, and they can't fathom why we would be against such minor inconveniences as gun owners, to save the children and police...
Every time LCAV and Brady come out with an argument, or quote some faulty study and misuse data out of context to support their agenda, we here are quick to refute them amongst ourselves. I think it would benefit us to be more aggressive in doing so. Maybe a sticky dedicated to Brady, linking articles where they make statements, then providing clear refutations with data and logic. These kind of side by side comparisons can be quite damaging when people see just how misleading someone is being.
Anyways, just a thought.
ETA: I know this would by nature have significant overlap with the 2nd amendment legal forum, but i think it deserves its own place.
Comment