Paul Revere
New member
I went to a friend's 4th of July party on Sunday, where most of the guests were either his or his wife's relatives. Late in the evening, the "guys" sat around the bar discussing odd topics. I thought it would be a good time to throw a question into the fire. Since most of these people were strangers to me, I didn't think it would hurt to see what they had to say.
The question was, "Do you own a gun?"
The first man said, "no". He said he'd never owned one and never would. The second man said that he "had a couple". I asked the second man if he was an NRA member, and he became untied, and said "NO WAY". I asked him how he could own a gun and at the same time not support the "gun lobby". He said that the NRA were "fanatics", believing "anyone should be able to own a fully automatic weapon".
His face was distorted with hate at this point, as I threw some kerosene on the fire. I asked him to outline for me what specific NRA policies were fanatical and where he got such information. He could not answer.
During this conversation two of the wives walked up and joined in. The outspoken man's wife spiked in with hatred towards AK-47's. I asked her what she found so objectionable about the AK-47, and she said that no person should be able to own a rifle which "can mow down school children with one pull of the trigger". Her husband agreed by saying, "you don't need an AK-47 to hunt deer". I asked the woman if she knew what an AK-47 was or what it looked like, and she responded, "no". So I pressed on. I questioned her how she could think something which she was so completely unfamiliar with could be so bad. She said that, "assault weapons like the AK-47, which anyone can buy at any gun show, are dangerous automatic weapons". I told her and her husband that "fully automatic weapons" were banned under the Gun Control Act, enacted decades ago, and they've been nearly impossible to obtain legally since then. "But you can get them at any gun show", the woman insisted. I said that was completely NOT true. The woman went on to say that "we don't need guns, we have the military and the police to protect us".
The woman then said, "if the government asked me to turn in my guns, so that crimes could be prevented, I would..." I then explained to this now emotional crowd, that our Founding Fathers wrote the 2nd Amendment not to protect our hunting arms, but to protect ALL of our arms. That they wanted us to keep and bear arms for us to protect our freedom from tyranny. That the term "assault weapon" was a term developed by modern politicians to misguide and confuse those who may not understand the true difference between fully automatic assualt weapons and weapons that looked "military" but fired in semi-auto mode only. I also explained the "Posse-Comitatus Act", and the reason why the 2nd Amendment was meant for individuals to have arms, not police and armies.
When I suggested that it sounded like the information that they all were basing their statements on were formulated from hearsay from a biased media who intentionally misinforms the public, they nodded and rolled their eyes as if to agree and disagree simultaneously. At this point I had to leave, but felt clearly that I couldn't have changed these minds in the few minutes that I could give them. That they were indeed the product of years of media manipulation and propaganda.
This is where middle America is today...misinformed and misguided. To have come up with so many of the anti-gun crowd's banner cliche's, these folks were clearly swayed by what they've heard on television and read in the papers.
Funny too, in the pool that afternoon, I played a game with their kids. They had to name various Founding Fathers, Presidents, etc. Answers included Thomas Edison and Henry Ford as founding fathers. And these kids were ages 9-12, about the time American history and the Constitution are taught. What does that say about our schools today?
The question was, "Do you own a gun?"
The first man said, "no". He said he'd never owned one and never would. The second man said that he "had a couple". I asked the second man if he was an NRA member, and he became untied, and said "NO WAY". I asked him how he could own a gun and at the same time not support the "gun lobby". He said that the NRA were "fanatics", believing "anyone should be able to own a fully automatic weapon".
His face was distorted with hate at this point, as I threw some kerosene on the fire. I asked him to outline for me what specific NRA policies were fanatical and where he got such information. He could not answer.
During this conversation two of the wives walked up and joined in. The outspoken man's wife spiked in with hatred towards AK-47's. I asked her what she found so objectionable about the AK-47, and she said that no person should be able to own a rifle which "can mow down school children with one pull of the trigger". Her husband agreed by saying, "you don't need an AK-47 to hunt deer". I asked the woman if she knew what an AK-47 was or what it looked like, and she responded, "no". So I pressed on. I questioned her how she could think something which she was so completely unfamiliar with could be so bad. She said that, "assault weapons like the AK-47, which anyone can buy at any gun show, are dangerous automatic weapons". I told her and her husband that "fully automatic weapons" were banned under the Gun Control Act, enacted decades ago, and they've been nearly impossible to obtain legally since then. "But you can get them at any gun show", the woman insisted. I said that was completely NOT true. The woman went on to say that "we don't need guns, we have the military and the police to protect us".
The woman then said, "if the government asked me to turn in my guns, so that crimes could be prevented, I would..." I then explained to this now emotional crowd, that our Founding Fathers wrote the 2nd Amendment not to protect our hunting arms, but to protect ALL of our arms. That they wanted us to keep and bear arms for us to protect our freedom from tyranny. That the term "assault weapon" was a term developed by modern politicians to misguide and confuse those who may not understand the true difference between fully automatic assualt weapons and weapons that looked "military" but fired in semi-auto mode only. I also explained the "Posse-Comitatus Act", and the reason why the 2nd Amendment was meant for individuals to have arms, not police and armies.
When I suggested that it sounded like the information that they all were basing their statements on were formulated from hearsay from a biased media who intentionally misinforms the public, they nodded and rolled their eyes as if to agree and disagree simultaneously. At this point I had to leave, but felt clearly that I couldn't have changed these minds in the few minutes that I could give them. That they were indeed the product of years of media manipulation and propaganda.
This is where middle America is today...misinformed and misguided. To have come up with so many of the anti-gun crowd's banner cliche's, these folks were clearly swayed by what they've heard on television and read in the papers.
Funny too, in the pool that afternoon, I played a game with their kids. They had to name various Founding Fathers, Presidents, etc. Answers included Thomas Edison and Henry Ford as founding fathers. And these kids were ages 9-12, about the time American history and the Constitution are taught. What does that say about our schools today?
