Anti-Logic?

[MikeJ]

As a former Anti, i'll just say this:

Just as a matter of curiosity, were you converted by someone who explained things to you in an adult, patient manner? Or did your opinion change when you, or someone close to you, became a victim of crime?

[seamusTX]

Replying for myself, I was not an "anti," but I used to be the kind of person who couldn't understand why people wanted AK-47s to hunt, etc. I used to think the NRA was the lobbying arm of the firearms manufacturing industry (mea culpa, please forgive me).

It was after the assassination attempt on Pres. Reagan and all the anti-RKBA hysteria that I started thinking hard about what the antis were saying, and realized how illogical it was. The NRA has been saying for decades, "If guns are outlawed, only criminals will have guns." I realized that it was the simple truth.

Around the same time, for various reasons, I got interested in the concept of natural law, and came to understand that self-defense and possessing the means of self-defense are basic human rights. Add to that a realization that government bureaucracies usually don't accomplish what they are supposed to. Now I'm more a libertarian than any other label.

I have never been in a situation where I would have been justified in using deadly force, and no one close to me was a victim of a violent crime until a few years ago, so that was not a factor for me.

To answer your question, I think that if we put out information that is true, presented in a logical way, with verifiable sources, we will get coverts. We won't persuade everyone, but we don't need to. We're already in the majority.

- Jim

[MikeJ]

I was never an anti, but the event that really made me a radical gun nut was a burglary of my house years ago when I lived in the country. This was back in the '80s when William Wayne Justice was releasing thousands of violent convicts from TDC because there weren't enough recreational facilities for the poor darlings. It occurred to me that I was at least 12 minutes away from law enforcement, realistically more like an hour, and that in a confrontation with a home invader, I'd find a helping hand at the end of my arm. Best to fill it.

I'm sure everyone's noticed all the news stories about runs on gun stores whenever there's some public danger. Some credit the passage of the concealed carry law to the unprecedented crime wave loosed upon us by ol' William Wayne. I'm just wondering whether antis are more likely to be converted by fear than by logic.

[nitrogen]

As a former Anti, i'll just say this:

Just as a matter of curiosity, were you converted by someone who explained things to you in an adult, patient manner? Or did your opinion change when you, or someone close to you, became a victim of crime?

It was a few things. It started out when I was in a coworkers car, and he opened his glove compartment, and OH NO HE HAD A GUN IN THERE!
I freaked out, and ended up learning about concealed carry licenses, and the like. A few weeks later, on a whim, he asked me if I wanted to go shooting, and I went. I had a great time, and learned "the truth" about guns. I know it sounds weird, but I never really thought about guns being a "good" thing.

By that point, I was tolerant of them, but I never really thought of them as something "for me."

I then met the woman that ended up becoming my wife. We were living together in California at the time. To make a long story a lot shorter, after a couple of sketchy situations, I realised I needed to be in a place that would allow me to protect myself and my loved one. A job opportunity presented itself to me in Texas, and we moved.

I've also been an attempted victim of violent crime, and was just lucky. (Someone tried to mug me and someone walked by and scared the guy off.)

It was a long journey that started in 1996, but those seeds planted over 10 years ago grew and I grew and changed.

[MikeJ]

So the magic combination seems to familiarity with firearms and a perceived need to protect oneself. Perhaps what we need is universal military training. All of our young men, as such young women who wished to participate, would at least have the basic familiarity with firearms.

[seamusTX]

Perhaps what we need is universal military training. All of our young men, as such young women who wished to participate, would at least have the basic familiarity with firearms.

I agree that familiarity is important.

I don't know if mandatory military service would help. All my older male relatives had been in the military, some in combat, some not. They all had zero interest in shooting recreationally or owning firearms for self-defense. The one who had been in combat (including my father) viewed weapons as part of an unpleasant experience.

The man who taught me to shoot, a neighbor, was ex-military and a policeman. He was the one exception to this pattern.

Arizona has shooting classes in public high schools. I think that's something that is within our reach as a state, and doesn't have the many contentious issues associated with a military draft.

- Jim