Converting Anti-2A Persons Success Stories

[Harriw]

The "What movie would you show an Anti" thread got me thinking... there are many of you here that actually have successfully converted friends, family members, co-workers, and perfect strangers to "our side" of the 2A debate. Or at least helped them buy their first gun, if not made full converts of them.

Seems in these trying times some (many?) are seeing the light all on their own, but I'd like to hear some real-life stories of how you've changed some minds (i.e. bringing them to the range, etc. - did you lay it on pretty thick, or just keep feeding them ammo and let the experience speak for itself?).

I see this as being a positive and entertaining read, but also as a resource for the rest of us - descriptions of what has proven to work in the past that the rest of us could try to emulate.

Thanks, and hang in there!

 

[TimRB]

I am in California. I have a hyper-liberal friend who, oddly, is not also a hard core gun hater, but she never had any experience with guns and had asked me several times in the past if I would take her to the range and show her a little about shooting. She is a single woman, living alone--in the back of her mind she was considering getting a gun for self defense. So off to the range we go, with a .22 pistol and a gazillion rounds of ammo. Long story short, a good time was had by all.

She never did buy a gun, as far as I know, but more to the point she remained a liberal. As such, she could not (or maybe "would not") make the connection between voting Democrat and losing gun rights. In 2016 she literally begged me to vote for Hillary (fat chance). Truth be told, there are many gun owners here in California who also vote Democrat without thinking about how much damage they're doing to their own liberty. Go figure.

Tim

 

[bdickens]

A gun owner voting for Democrats is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.

 

[J-Bar]

This happened about 25 years ago.

Our local daily newspaper brought in a new very liberal editor from another city. One of his editorials was the usual anti-gun, anti-second amendment stuff that we have all seen before. I sent him a letter inviting him to join me at one of the conservation department supervised shooting ranges nearby, in the hopes that I could convince him that shooting can be a pleasant pastime. After checking me out with some of his contacts and determining that I was not on the list of known crazies and criminals, he agreed.

Missouri is lucky to have several well maintained and supervised shooting facilities. The one nearest us has a 14-lane rifle/handgun range and three trap and skeet ranges. It is staffed and controlled by full time conservation officers so safety is monitored continuously. When we arrived at the range we first went into a meeting room for a lecture on gun safety. I opened a handgun case to demonstrate safe handling. He later told me he had a physical reaction when he saw the revolver, a Smith and Wesson model 18, .22 LR. He said it was nearly nausea. But to his credit, he did not back down and we went over the four rules.

Out on the range, we started with that .22, with the target set at 5 yards, shooting single action over a rest. He was a good student, focused on sight alignment and trigger control and shot decent groups from the start. After about half a box of ammo, I asked if he would like to try something a little more powerful, and he said yes. I set him up with the Model 18's bigger brother, a Model 15 with .38 Special target loads, again shooting single action over a rest. He seemed to enjoy the challenge of making small groups, and did OK. I asked if he wanted to try something a bit more powerful, and when he said yes, handed him a Ruger Vaquero with commercial .357 Magnum cartridges. He made it through the cylinder full OK and made a decent group, but said he enjoyed the .38 more. So he shot a few more cylinders full of .38 Specials, and we called it a day.

On the drive back to town he said, "You know, that took courage for me to do that." I replied, "It took courage on both sides." He looked at me strangely, and I explained, "I don't know you, but I handed you a loaded gun." And it seemed like something clicked in his brain; he nodded in understanding.

A few days later he published an editorial in the newspaper about our experience. He thanked me for my time and said he could now understand how some folks can enjoy recreational shooting. He also said he did not think he would ever be able to.

So, a partial victory perhaps. We had no contact after that.

 

[jamesjames]

This is the secret. You don’t have to convert a liberal to abandon all their views and come completely over to conservatism. Liberals can like guns and shooting too. Ultimate they (we) can learn that gun rights are ours to reclaim without recanting all liberal doctrines.

p.s.... I was converted.