infuriatednoodle said:
Unfortunately, the rest of my family (besides my dad and I) are super crazed liberals and think all guns are good for are killing.
You really should understand that there are liberals who are still hardcore supporters of the RKBA and the rest of the Bill of Rights, as well as all the rights that aren't enumerated. I'm one of them, although I am having pretty "conservative" leanings on spending these days. But I digress...
9mmepiphany said:
My experience has been a bit different than most here.
I have several friends who most would call liberal, but we all own guns and enjoy getting together and shooting competitively. I've found that when you reason with people who believe in personal choice and taking responsibility, that you can usually bring them around to at least understanding the need for an armed populace. What is great is that they then tell their friends what a good time they had shooting and they want to try it too.
I wouldn't call any of my family, who are strongly anti-gun, liberal...quite the opposite
Agreed.
I've known a lot of "conservative" gun owners who'd think you're nuts for packing a handgun for self defense or for owning a military style rifle. In their words... "Whatcha want with one of them? Can't hunt with it!" (because semi-auto firearms are illegal for hunting in my state). Whether you're conservative or liberal doesn't always mean much about your views on firearms.
As for me, I have some friends who had a fear of firearms created by their lack of familiarity with them. Often as not, once I've given them a little encouragement they've decided that guns at least have some positive uses. All the first time shooters I've ever taken to the range with me have had a great time learning. Some have gone from being deathly afraid to considering the option of owning their own guns in the future.
I have had some acquaintances who were strongly anti-gun based on some comments they've made. One classmate, hearing that our campus police were now packing semi-auto M-4 clones in their cars, commented "That's just what we need: Cops with machine guns in their cars!"
I didn't bother to correct him on the semi-auto/select fire discrepancy because it didn't matter. Instead, I just told him he'd probably change his opinion if some mentally deranged person came into our classroom and opened fire. He didn't have anything to say to that.
It's all about perspective.
Also, some food for thought:
My strong support for the RKBA is
largely based on fear. I have studied history enough to know that bad things happen to people who don't have the means to effectively resist. Read about how the Nazis packed people into massive pits while they were still living, stacked head to toe to make the most efficient use of space, and machine gunned them. Read about people being sent to gas chambers by the hundreds of thousands and see how that makes you feel. If that doesn't horrify you, you're not human.
Are the chances of such a thing happening in my country during my lifetime all that great? Nope.
Does that make my concerns irrational? Maybe.
But I think I'll be hanging on to my guns just the same, thank you very much.