What is it in the human mind, spirit, soul, karma... whatever... that causes people to make bad decisions based on trauma?
Case in point...
Two people, Bill and Bob, are accosted by an armed mugger and both fear for their life during the incident.
Bill goes home, decides that the feeling of helplessness, fear, desperation, and terror he felt was the worst possible moment of his life. Staring down the barrel of a lethal weapon was something no human being should ever be subjected to in this day and age. From this day forth, he decides, he will work endlessly to ensure this never happens again.
Bob goes home, decides that the feeling of helplessness, fear, desperation, and terror he felt was the worst possible moment of his life. Staring down the barrel of a lethal weapon was something no human being should ever be subjected to in this day and age. From this day forth, he decides, he will work endlessly to ensure this never happens again.
Bill calls Heidi Smith and enrolls in the next Thunder Ranch beginner's course.
Bob starts a local VPC branch and petitions for a firearms ban in his city.
Same event, two paths.
As a gun guy, I spend a lot of my time preaching to the choir. Heck, it's one of the gun lobbies greatest shortcomings. While the antis tell Soccer Mom Suzy and Latte Lapping Larry how bad guns are, we spend our time and energy telling each other how bad the antis are.
But what I have never figured out is how people like Paul Helmke (nope, not doing it, find your own link to that guy) can honestly as a logical human being look at the violence inherent in the human creature and believe that the complete and utter elimination of one tool (just ONE) will make the world a bright, shiny happy place.
I know, trying to figure out an anti....
But, this leads me to Suzy Soccer Mom and Larry the Latte Lapper.
They, to be frank, could give two whiffs of two shiites about guns. Larry thinks Mariska Hargitay looks hot with her gun on Law and Order. Suzy thinks the shoot 'em ups her boys like to watch are too loud. But let's face it, they don't think about our boomsticks like we do.
So what is it that determines what path they take if they are ever faced with that trauma?
What is it in the their wee lil lizard brains that makes Larry decide that "if guns were illegal, that violent criminal wouldn't have had one" and makes Suzy decide "The world is just of a lousy place, I had better take steps to better prepare myself for it?"
See... these are the thoughts that kept me out of the really good schools.
I guess the point (ha, there is too one!) to my rambling is that if we can isolate a general idea of what guides a person down Larry's latte littered path of least resistance or down surefire Suzy's well-designed enfilade then we may be able to better present our case to the middle people.
This is an important conversation we need to be having right now, because the antis have been handing our heads to us on the middle ground PR battle for decades now. We've had the political ground pretty well covered, but the path to victory does not lie with the politicos.
It lies with We, the People.
Of course, that could just be the Swiss Rolls talking.
Stay safe;
xxxJM24xxx
1 comments:
God bless Swiss Cake Rolls! :)
The problem lies with the fact that we will always have two types of people: those that will accept responsibility, and those that will take the easy way out.
It is far simpler for the "Easy Way Out" mentality to hand responsibility over to government as a solution. These are the same people who think government should provide food for the poor, health care, etc., because it abrogates themselves from assuming a responsible role, either for themselves or for others. The want no part of any risk to themselves or their lifestyle. Their idea of a solution is for someone far smarter than them to fix whatever happens to be wrong. Society may be a mess, but there are others that are hired to take care of that; we can't be bothered with it.
For the others, you won't have to look hard to find an individual who accepts that the responsibility of his (her) fate, well being, and safety lies entirely on their shoulders. These are the people who change tires for an elderly woman in the rain, stop a child from running from the park and into traffic, and who'll pull a gun on a convenience store robber. Risk is nothing more than a challenge, the rewards of which far outweigh any negative outcome. These people realize, whole-heartedly, that society depends on them doing the right thing, and they'll be damned if they don't take responsibility for it.
In order to get the middle grounders to come to our side of the argument, we must find a way to make them accept responsibility for the own safety.
If possible, shame them into accepting it by showing how only the weak go running to "mommy" government instead of being an adult and protecting themselves and their families. This country was created on the backs of people who rose to the occasion, took the bull by the horns, and built their own lives; we didn't wait for lives to be handed to us. This nation is turning to government for all of our solutions. Socialist programs are turning you into a lot of dependent Euro-weenies, not individual Americans. You got two feet, STAND ON THEM.
Run a PR campaign like that, and this whole gun issue turns around within a fortnight.
God bless, and keep plugging away!
Semper Fi,
Mattski
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