coloradokevin
Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,285
Here's what I'm proposing, and why:
1) As gun owners, we face an uphill battle in trying to defend our position to citizens who do not own guns, and many of these citizens may still be on the fence regarding this issue (those people are our target audience).
2) Changing a person's perspective is often more easily accomplished when an argument can be backed with facts. Conjecture really has no place in an argument with intelligent and educated adults.
3) I'd like to use this thread as an informational resource that we can each use for the sake of supporting our arguments in defense of RKBA-related issues.
4) accomplish this task I'd like to see members post source information for studies, statistical data, and so forth, which will demonstrate the fact that guns are more valuable than they are harmful. By having this source data collected and available to members of the forum (in one place), we'll make it easier to argue our position more effectively.
LET ME LEAD THIS IDEA WITH EXAMPLES:
We often hear people on The High Road say things like:
1) "Areas with stricter gun laws have higher crime rates."
-This argument would be much stronger with factual support, pointing to the study from which this statistical trend was observed
2) "Guns save XYZ number of innocent lives each year."
-Where did we get these statistics?
3) "Strict gun control has not had a positive effect on murder/aggravated assault rates."
-Again, where can we source this data?
Most of us (clearly) already believe these statements to be true. But, we can't effectively argue these points with our idealogical adversaries if we don't have the source of our data to back up our position.
I would appreciate responses to this thread from anyone who can provide source data for those quotes, OR any other beneficial data that can support our position on the right to keep and bear arms. If this data is available in one place, it will provide our members with valuable intellectual tools for defending the rights of gun owners in this country. By having the data available to educate others, we can prove that we are not simply a bunch of "ignorant gun-toting rednecks", or some such nonsense.
Once this source information is available here in this thread, I'd strongly urge members to disseminate this information when writing to lawmakers, or communicating with people via e-mail, online forums, Facebook, or whatever other means you believe is appropriate.
We can win this argument through the use of facts, and we need to start gathering the facts that we need, so that we can support our position.
NOTE: Hopefully those of you in the moderation staff deem this thread worthy of placement within our "Activism" section. If not, please feel free to move it to a more appropriate category!
1) As gun owners, we face an uphill battle in trying to defend our position to citizens who do not own guns, and many of these citizens may still be on the fence regarding this issue (those people are our target audience).
2) Changing a person's perspective is often more easily accomplished when an argument can be backed with facts. Conjecture really has no place in an argument with intelligent and educated adults.
3) I'd like to use this thread as an informational resource that we can each use for the sake of supporting our arguments in defense of RKBA-related issues.
4) accomplish this task I'd like to see members post source information for studies, statistical data, and so forth, which will demonstrate the fact that guns are more valuable than they are harmful. By having this source data collected and available to members of the forum (in one place), we'll make it easier to argue our position more effectively.
LET ME LEAD THIS IDEA WITH EXAMPLES:
We often hear people on The High Road say things like:
1) "Areas with stricter gun laws have higher crime rates."
-This argument would be much stronger with factual support, pointing to the study from which this statistical trend was observed
2) "Guns save XYZ number of innocent lives each year."
-Where did we get these statistics?
3) "Strict gun control has not had a positive effect on murder/aggravated assault rates."
-Again, where can we source this data?
Most of us (clearly) already believe these statements to be true. But, we can't effectively argue these points with our idealogical adversaries if we don't have the source of our data to back up our position.
I would appreciate responses to this thread from anyone who can provide source data for those quotes, OR any other beneficial data that can support our position on the right to keep and bear arms. If this data is available in one place, it will provide our members with valuable intellectual tools for defending the rights of gun owners in this country. By having the data available to educate others, we can prove that we are not simply a bunch of "ignorant gun-toting rednecks", or some such nonsense.
Once this source information is available here in this thread, I'd strongly urge members to disseminate this information when writing to lawmakers, or communicating with people via e-mail, online forums, Facebook, or whatever other means you believe is appropriate.
We can win this argument through the use of facts, and we need to start gathering the facts that we need, so that we can support our position.
NOTE: Hopefully those of you in the moderation staff deem this thread worthy of placement within our "Activism" section. If not, please feel free to move it to a more appropriate category!