Civilly Talking to Anti-Gunners

USCCA - 10/12/2019
As the 2020 political season ramps up, it’s important to keep in mind that we won’t get anywhere by shouting something about taking your guns from your cold, dead hands. Democratic presidential candidates are coming at gun control hard because they think that’s what the people want.

The truth is, most people calling for gun control are afraid of guns and haven’t been properly educated. Take the time to do so — patiently and civilly — and you may just turn someone around. Show the people that gun control is not what they want using logical, fact-based arguments.

Many USCCA authors have given you the materials to do so. Below, you’ll find some snippets to use in your next conversation with an anti-gunner. Full articles will also be linked if you’d like to learn more.

Gun Control: Why It Doesn’t Work — Part 2

by Alan Korwin

Hoplophobia Drives Much of the Opposition — An Irrational Fear of Firearms Fuels Anti-Civil-Rights Activists

Morbid fear of weapons is a terrible affliction from which many people suffer. These individuals refuse to admit it; denial is one of the symptoms of the condition known as “hoplophobia.” Instead of dealing directly with their problems and seeking treatment (which can be simple), they vent pent-up rage and frustration and, in classic psychological fashion, project or transfer their fears onto those around them.

They frequently fantasize about shooting people nearby. They fear if they themselves had access to a firearm, they could “go crazy” and start randomly shooting people. Hoplophobics know — as do we all — that a firearm would play a role in such a catastrophe. The problem is, they project this fear onto you. In fact, some live in constant dread that their armed neighbors might shoot them.

While people who own firearms have come to grips with this reality (and sanely control themselves and their arms the same as they do with other dangerous things they own, such as cars, knives or poisons), hoplophobes have not. Perhaps they cannot and, as such, cling tightly to internal terrors and loathing abhorrence of guns and their owners.

Many turn their neurotic tendencies outward and seek political resolution. “If only all the guns would just go away” is one irrational cry. Instead of seeking help for themselves, they seek to attack your rights. This makes sense to them and is a great hidden secret of the modern gun debate: We are not fighting a political battle; we are fighting a medical condition —hoplophobia. Point out hoplophobic behavior whenever you see it, but remember that these people deserve sympathy, not scorn, and need help.

Psychiatry treats certain phobias through desensitization — slowly introducing those afflicted to the object of their fears. In fact, you might have personally witnessed the dramatic improvement a gun-phobic person can experience from even a single visit to a shooting range.