Gun Shaming

[Tarasdad]

Very simply put if someone starts spouting stuff like that in MY house I tell them this is a 2A friendly home and they are welcome to leave. Goodbye, good riddance, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[SoCal Gunner]

Take them out shooting!

[SharpAsABall]

I will save the educated discussions for when I'm in a better position to engage in them. For now, maybe a humble offer to take them shooting shouldn't hurt. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[monk]

You should've pooped in his cereal.

[bigbully]

This thread is not what I expected it to be about at all. LOL!

I thought I was going to see a picture of your gun with a sign about how it failed you at the range or something.

[SILENT GUNMAN]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=50vUx0DfGtE

Here is one of my favorite debates of all time on gun control. Watch the video and you may be able to at least put up some kind of argument the next time you're put in the spot like that.

[MudCamper]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=50vUx0DfGtE

Here is one of my favorite debates of all time on gun control. Watch the video and you may be able to at least put up some kind of argument the next time you're put in the spot like that.

Ted Nugent is the worst possible person to use with an anti. He will have the opposite effect. He's too emotional, and he seems a bit crazy.

[wjc]

Ted Nugent is the worst possible person to use with an anti. He will have the opposite effect. He's too emotional, and he seems a bit crazy.

He's better than Alex Jones vs. Piers "Redcoat" Morgan.

Actually, the guy to watch is Ben Shapiro. He crushes anti-gun types with logic and reason.

[IVC]

Now you know how black people feel around racists.

Either way, just keep in mind that you're doing nothing wrong and that you are actually exercising a civil right. Just because someone else doesn't like it, or believes it *shouldn't* be a civil right doesn't make it so. In the end, they are anti-rights bigots, equivalent of "quiet racists" of the times bygone.

[kcheung2]

If some guy in another part of the country gets drunk and crashes his car into a crowd, there's no reason why I need to feel any shame or guilt simply because I also drive a car and enjoy a beer (but not at the same time!)

It's really the same thing. Another example: Whenever there's some kerfuffle in the mideast, liberals are always quick to point out that it's the extremist element that gives Islam a bad name, that there's a lot of tolerant moderates, etc. But some wackjob with a gun goes crazy, and those same people will quickly label the other 90M law-abiding gunowners equally crazy.

[11HE9]

Our country is full of people who do not understand that our 2nd amendment protects the 1st, and all 27 after it. They don't understand what countries like Cuba, Venezuela, etc are like. They live in a bubble, called free America, protected by the gun and don't even know it.

May I quote this? ^^^

I would LOVE to put it on a t-shirt



Most of my "close friends" know I own firearms. My "casual friends" probably have their suspisions since I am ex-military, and work with LEOs.

No one (friend) I can think of would ever blurt out, "He has ___ guns!!" for any reason

One of my BILs is dating a woman who is completely ignorant when it comes to firearms. Early on, if anyone walked into the kitchen with a firearm (common around here) she would freak.

She has mellowed out a bit... next step is to get a BB gun in her hands

[krwada]

I get this all the time

You did good ... You did right ... as far as I can tell.

I get this kind of guff all the time. All my friends, and relatives who know me think I am a bit crazy ... They also admit that I am very interesting to talk to. Before I re-entered the gun hobby, (I grew up with guns out in Central Valley California), I was into High Power Rocketry

The High Power Rocketry hobby is also fully protected by the 2nd amendment too. In my opinion, it is a way more dangerous hobby than any of the shooting sports. I left this hobby because it got way too expensive for me ... plus the added stress of always making launch deadlines kinda wore me out.

Some of the things I have done:
1. It is OK to get into an argument with an anti-gun ... Provided there are fence-sitters listening in on the conversation.
2. The first person who launches an ad-hominem attack loses
3. Be calm, be patient... with logic and attention to detail you can quickly and easily get the other side all riled up and start name calling ... at this point you have won ... big time.

One of the most unproductive things to do is get into an "adult discussion" about guns and firearms with a bunch of anti-2A folks with no fence-sitters listening in ... They just love to gang up with all the name calling and baby-killing comments.... It just serves no purpose.

A good thing to do, is to get an anti-2A out shooting. I have converted quite a few folks this way.

The very best thing to do is to get involved with Youth Shooting sports and activities. Here, in Liberal Blue SF Bay Area ... there is a dearth of folks who can claim to have any understanding of safety procedures and such ... I usually get appointed as the youth range safety officer for these events ... Getting the youth involved is a great way to get the region started in the direction of a gun-friendly culture ... Just look at you ... I think you are a very good example of this!

[bulletblood]

California is changing. It seems like everyone around me is a gun owner. It's usually the anti gunners that keep quiet while everyone around them talks about their weekend at the range.

[readysetgo]

Great question and phrase, I think. Great responses you've gotten so far too. I'd like to add a few things.

First, "gun shaming" = bullying. I despise bullying. I don't mean playful ribbing between friends or family, I mean when someone is really trying to take advantage of a weakness or perceived weakness of another. One of the worst things in the world as far as I'm concerned. THAT should never be tolerated, IMO.

Second, as far as your reaction to this situation and future responses. I think you did well here. Always keep your cool. Never feel you have to give answers that you really don't know. Nobody knows everything, you can always gracefully say "I don't know the answer to that" or "I'm really not informed enough/up to speed on this specific subject to give a good answer/opinion."

But most importantly, it will come from having confidence. Where do you/we get this confidence? In a few words, because we know we're right. It doesn't necessarily come from being a subject expert, although it can't hurt to study and stay up to date on the topics and issues as you would if you were prepping for a speech or presentation at school. It comes more from deep held beliefs in freedom and self defense. Ruling your own destiny, for good or bad being the captain of your ship. Understanding the simple principal that if somebody would physically threaten your life, that threat should be, appropriately, met with as much resistant force as you can muster.

A few things stand out to me in your OP that might show you that you already possess some of the tools for a good approach when the issue of firearms pops up.

Though I'm not great, I love it, and it's an awesome way for me to connect with my grandfather.

Deep down, I know how much I was beaming with excitement and joy when I first picked up my gun.

I've never gone shooting and regretted the time I spent there.

^^^ These are your keys right here. Personal stories, how and why it's a positive issue to you. Exciting, always have a good time, the connection to a cherished loved one. Start there, is my suggestion to you.

I just don't know if time allows you to gain some epiphany, or you just learn not to give a damn.

I would argue the exact opposite. The fact that we DO give a tremendous damn is why we believe in what we believe.

The issue is too important to not have a healthy slice of my attention at all times.

I'll just leave this here since I've got nowhere better to put it. I was recently having a discussion on firearms with a physician and he was talking about the importance of 2A etc, at that moment I put it in this context:

The 2nd amendment is a thread in the tapestry of America, woven so deeply and so thoroughly that if you were to pull it out, the whole thing would come undone. This is why the people who tug at that string bother me so much, the undoing of what I believe in.

[Mr. Gillious]

Whenever I get into a debate or argument about an anti-gun person I always back my reasoning with the 2nd amendment.

When they say no body needs a gun I just tell them the story of the holocaust.

When they say no one needs a semiauto handgun or rifle I just mention Charles Whitman and tell them his story


When they say guns can kill people I say they're too loud and can make your ears ring and that it's better to use a kitchen knife

The Charles Whitman story really shuts them up