"He had a gun, he could have shot somebody!"

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The best course is to keep the firearm discrete and respect others feelings about them.
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Some people have an irrational fear of other races, religions, clowns, or....

I think we should keep 'them' discrete and respect other's feelings about them...

Or we can live in the real world, and ignore the bigoted irrational fears of others...
 
Don't forget marionettes. They are darn scary. My wife would shoot one of them on sight if it moved on its own.

The point is that folks can be talked to about guns and some will listen to reason. Mocking them is counter productive as is pseudo-psychological analysis of their views (like the fake Freud quote).
 
I'm thinking on this, most of you would admonish someone for an inadvertent muzzle sweep or even have a conniption fit. Post lengthy threads on gun safety. Scold the guy that forgot to make sure his bore was clear, or have his headspace checked by a gunsmith, even a persons holster position and angle....And a myriad if other things.

Now we get upset over an average person's fear of guns. I've carried concealed for years and I still get a little creeped out by the doofus open carrying in the pizza joint. Maybe not by him, but by other scenarios that could unfold.

Guns are not clowns
Or snakes
Or cars
Or knives

I'm somewhat cautious about all of those items.
Now, without a scenario to go on; the statement "he had a gun, he could have shot someone" is a true statement.... Especially since that is the main function of a gun
 
Some folks have an irrational fear of guns and an need to express such. Other folks have an irrational need to post on the subject. Others have the irrational need to comment on it.

Seems to be a lot of irrationality going on.
 
GlennEMeyer:
(like the fake Freud quote).
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I used to date a Psy-D. I remember that her take was that pretty much all Freud quotes are fake...
lol

I think that the moral of the story is: don't put people in a box before they put themselves there. You wouldn't want it to happen to you. Everyone has a different history and have their own reason for their beliefs.
 
For some it is not irrational, but just not realistic. My oldest daughter who was raised in a household where I always had a gun ready for home defense, is very anti-gun now out of concern for her three children. She has never suffered a home invasion, and apparently knows no one who has. Nor has she, or anyone she knows, ever been a victim of any gun related crime. So in her mind the need for a gun is unrealistic (obviously I disagree with her on this). But she knows that where a gun is present there is a small but real chance (in her mind) that an accident will occur. So in her thinking the gun that I carry concealed is almost totally unlikely to ever be needed to defend myself, her, or my grandchildren, but is slightly more likely to be involved in an accident that hurts or kills one of her children.

So while I think her fear and dislike of guns is misguided and foolish, it is not totally irrational. She has told me she prefers if I would not carry when I visit her home, but is not fanatical about it, so we practice a form of "don't ask, don't tell". I just make sure that I don't make the mistake again of wearing an OWB holster and lifting my arm to reach something on a high kitchen shelf and accidentally exposing the holster and gun. When I am visiting her I pocket carry, so no matter how I move the gun never is exposed.
 
Aren't clowns basically people in disguise?

Seriously, RickyRick and Vito pretty much echoed my feelings and said it better than I would have.
 
RaySendero said:
If she ever had a car accident would she never drive again!
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That's not unheard of, actually.

And if someone isn't raised around guns; they might not see it as a necessity like driving.
 
the conversation about guns has blown up so much around here that I see less and less of that type of thinking. what used to be every ones dirty secret has all been open aired and now that every saw how their helpful and nice neighbors are packing guns and the co-workers they respect are carrying guns, it's just becoming less of a deal. not by any great education process by the NRA or any political party, but just by everyone talking about it amongst themselves and being introduced to it, I know LOTS of new gun owners that never thought twice about it before. I think if people really take the time and honesty to think about the issue, they will usually get on the right side of it. unfortunately, politicians have realized this and now are just pushing under-the-radar backdoor gun control so the masses will never hear about it, they learned their lesson by letting the citizens make up their own minds(okay, off topic) I am just saying that all my neighbors, left and right, know here I stand and they all have ther own opinions about the laws, but respect MY right to own and carry a gun. my neighbor right next to me HATES guns, but doesn't care that "I" have guns, but thinks that anyone and everyone is buying guns off the internet and "gun-show" loophole crap, not that he has an irrational fear of legal owners, he has an irrational fear of open-market gun ownership for criminals, which really is irrational. I also hear the occasional comment which really gets under my skin, usually from women(not being sexist, but I think I only hear this from women), is they don't want a gun because they "don't think the answer to violence is MORE violence", and that's it, not even thinking about themselves or the victims of actual violent crimes. I am way more scared of even the thought of someone coming in my home with a gun and assuming complete control of my household with such a tiny object. but the more we sit around the break room and talk guns, the more news coverage on CCw saving the day, the more "tacticool" kids with the bumper stickers on their cars, the more respect we have for other peoples views rather than jumping down their throats, the more we talk about guns as, not only weapons, but objects of great enjoyment and sport and the more we talk about why WE personally have guns, it opens peoples eyes that were either scared of guns before, or just didn't care one way or the other. and I think it's generally the odd one out that will take FIRM stance against your right to have and carry a gun. I know lots of people don't appreciate open-carry, especially around their children, and I understand their right not to want their kids exposed to it, fine. keep it discreet in public PLEASE!!! I saw no more negative campaign against guns than the idiots, supposedly promoting gun rights, carrying rifles around the grocery store and streets all day, what is that going to accomplish rather than turning the discussion the wrong way. I am personally very pleased and surprised how much people views have turned around in the last five years. so everyone, well most, just keep doing whatever your doing, because at least in the community it seems to be working, in Washington we need to make some changes.
 
Best thing to do is to be a positive representative IMO.

Remain calm and courteous, you'll never convince the diehard anti' however, the way yoy carry yourself and the way yoy speak may sway those on the sidelines.

Yes, it's annoying at times when people make sweeping generalizations based on a small sample of people screwing things up for us (why hello there Alex Jones and the punks who walked into Starbucks and Chipotle at low ready). However, we must do our best to show that the vast majority of gun owners are average Joe's and Jane's, just like everyone else, who so happened to decide that arming themselves is what's good for them.
 
Now we get upset over an average person's fear of guns.
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No, just the OP. Most other here seem to have demonstrated that they understand how an average person can have an irrational fear of guns.

I like the idea of naming guns after warm, fuzzy animals. In fact, I have an old Lorcin .380, and this gives me a great idea on how to really dress it up. Perhaps I can coat it in some fluffy brown fur, glue two big Wiggly Eyes on the slide and give it a pink little nose on the muzzle.:o Yes, it would be a lame little creature that will probably puke its guts up and die....but it would be cute!
 
OP here

I'm not upset or angry, I didn't mean to imply that I was. I was only trying to open a discussion that asks the question, "where do they get the idea that because someone has a firearm it makes them a hazard to others?"
 
@OP Blame the media. When you watch movies, TV shows or listen to the news, how are guns typically portrayed?

90% of all news being reported by MSM regarding guns usually involves some terrible event, be it committed by criminals or an accident of some kind.

Then you have "activists" that go into Target stores, Starbucks and Chipotle, wielding their 12g Remington and AR15' at low ready while decked out with their tacticool vests,.

That is where people get this notion that folks with a gun are potentially dangerous.

Most people are uneducated or misinformed when it comes to the topic of firearms, and many more eat whatever the pretty box with flashing lights tells them.

It's up to us to set a good example and not give ammunition (pun intended) to the anti gun crowd, so that they may further plaster that image on gun owners across the board.

Until we can Control the language and the rhetoric, we'll likely be viewed as "potential serial killers" for quite some more time to come.
 
Maybe ridiculing them isn't so smart - but sometimes you gotta wonder.

"He's got a gun and he could have shot someone!"

"So, you don't trust cops either?"
"Right, and a million soldiers are all going on a killing spree."
"What about all the deer hunters walking out the door on opening morning?"
"Every lawyer in town has a CCW license. You should worry."

The point is to turn their irrational view directly to the reality that most of the authoritarian figures in their life carry firearms daily. And they aren't the problem.

You CAN confront an irrational fear, simply bring in logic. Do so as the adult, with patience, and you hold the high ground. If we couldn't deal with irrationality at all, we'd never raise children.

"He didn't shoot someone, and until you learn better, I'm glad you don't have any."

Telling anti gunners they aren't qualified puts the ball in their court. See how they like it. Be the adult.
 
My bf took me out of town a few months ago for our anniversary, and he gave me a present at our hotel- a new bow (he's a keeper). When we were getting ready to leave I was in the elevator and holding my bow (he "wrapped" it in his jacket and hid it in the trunk on the way down, because man). There was a couple in the elevator when I got in and after about 5 floors of awkward silence the man turns to the woman and says jokingly "Don't make this one mad, honey!" to which my smart@55 responded "Meh, it's not that great for close-quarters". I swear, I heard crickets. Not even a courtesy chuckle. 20 more floors of very awkward lack of conversation later and they pretty much ran out of the elevator when we got to the lobby. When I came back for a second trip to take the rest of our stuff to the car, I saw them at the front desk whispering angrily to the person there and I definitely got a glare when I walked past. I mean, I didn't even have arrows. So in summary.... "She had a bow! She could have, I don't know, like, snapped me with the string or something!"
 
It’s like being called a baby killer in the middle of a grocery store parking lot because you have an NRA sticker on your car.
It happened to me.
All you can really do is smile and shake your head. You’ll never get them to change their minds for one main reason, they don’t care what you think if it disagrees with what they feel is the truth.
 
Now, without a scenario to go on; the statement "he had a gun, he could have shot someone" is a true statement.... Especially since that is the main function of a gun
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If what you are saying is that "the main function of a gun is to shoot someone" and it is true, then ..... none of mine are functional..... but I believe you are wrong, and fundamentally so.

Guns don't shoot anyone, or shoot at all, by themselves. It takes a human being to use the tool...... just as cars don't drive themselves, or run over people by themselves.

It's a machine. It has no volition of it's own. It's not Good, nor Evil. Those things are solely the province of sentient beings that have a sense of Right and Wrong......

If what you are saying is that "he had a gun, so it would be possible for him to shoot someone", then you would be technically correct, but so would the "he had a car, he could have run someone down" or "he had male genitalia, he could have raped someone" ....... You can not persecute people for what they might do with an item, based on your own irrational fears..... at least I hope you will never be allowed to in THIS country, for there is no place to go to if that happens.
 
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