Raging Against Self Defense:
A Psychiatrist Examines The Anti-Gun Mentality
By Sarah Thompson, M.D.
righter@therighter.com
"You don't need to have a gun; the police will protect you."
"If people carry guns, there will be murders over parking spaces and
neighborhood basketball games."
"I'm a pacifist. Enlightened, spiritually aware people shouldn't own guns."
"I'd rather be raped than have some redneck militia type try to rescue me."
How often have you heard these statements from misguided advocates of victim
disarmament, or even woefully uninformed relatives and neighbors? Why do people
cling so tightly to these beliefs, in the face of incontrovertible evidence that
they are wrong? Why do they get so furiously angry when gun owners point out
that their arguments are factually and logically incorrect?
How can you communicate with these people who seem to be out of touch with
reality and rational thought?
One approach to help you deal with anti-gun people is to understand their
psychological processes. Once you understand why these people behave so
irrationally, you can communicate more effectively with them.
Defense Mechanisms
Projection
About a year ago I received an e-mail from a member of a local Jewish
organization. The author, who chose to remain anonymous, insisted that people
have no right to carry firearms because he didn't want to be murdered if one of
his neighbors had a "bad day". (I don't know that this person is a "he", but I'm
assuming so for the sake of simplicity.) I responded by asking him why he
thought his neighbors wanted to murder him, and, of course, got no response. The
truth is that he's statistically more likely to be murdered by a neighbor who
doesn't legally carry a firearm1 and more likely to be shot accidentally by a
law enforcement officer.1
How does my correspondent "know" that his neighbors would murder him if they had
guns? He doesn't. What he was really saying was that if he had a gun, he might
murder his neighbors if he had a bad day, or if they took his parking space, or
played their stereos too loud. This is an example of what mental health
professionals call projection – unconsciously projecting one's own unacceptable
feelings onto other people, so that one doesn't have to own them.3 In some
cases, the intolerable feelings are projected not onto a person, but onto an
inanimate object, such as a gun,4 so that the projector believes the gun itself
will murder him.
Projection is a defense mechanism. Defense mechanisms are unconscious
psychological mechanisms that protect us from feelings that we cannot
consciously accept.5 They operate without our awareness, so that we don't have
to deal consciously with "forbidden" feelings and impulses. Thus, if you asked
my e-mail correspondent if he really wanted to murder his neighbors, he would
vehemently deny it, and insist that other people want to kill him.
Projection is a particularly insidious defense mechanism, because it not only
prevents a person from dealing with his own feelings, it also creates a world
where he perceives everyone else as directing his own hostile feelings back at
him.6
All people have violent, and even homicidal, impulses. For example, it's common
to hear people say "I'd like to kill my boss", or "If you do that one more time
I'm going to kill you." They don't actually mean that they're going to, or even
would, kill anyone; they're simply acknowledging anger and frustration. All of
us suffer from fear and feelings of helplessness and vulnerability. Most people
can acknowledge feelings of rage, fear, frustration, jealousy, etc. without
having to act on them in inappropriate and destructive ways.
Some people, however, are unable consciously to admit that they have such
"unacceptable" emotions. They may have higher than average levels of rage,
frustration, or fear. Perhaps they fear that if they acknowledge the hostile
feelings, they will lose control and really will hurt someone. They may believe
that "good people" never have such feelings, when in fact all people have them.
This is especially true now that education "experts" commonly prohibit children
from expressing negative emotions or aggression. Instead of learning that such
emotions are normal, but that destructive behavior needs to be controlled,
children now learn that feelings of anger are evil, dangerous and subject to
severe punishment.7To protect themselves from "being bad", they are forced to
use defense mechanisms to avoid owning their own normal emotions. Unfortunately,
using such defense mechanisms inappropriately can endanger their mental health;
children need to learn how to deal appropriately with reality, not how to avoid
it.8
(This discussion of psychological mechanisms applies to the average person who
is uninformed, or misinformed, about firearms and self-defense. It does not
apply to the anti- gun ideologue. Fanatics like Charles Schumer know the facts
about firearms, and advocate victim disarmament consciously and willfully in
order to gain political power. This psychological analysis does not apply to
them.)
Denial
Another defense mechanism commonly utilized by supporters of gun control is
denial. Denial is simply refusing to accept the reality of a given situation.9
For example, consider a woman whose husband starts coming home late, has strange
perfume on his clothes, and starts charging flowers and jewelry on his credit
card. She may get extremely angry at a well-meaning friend who suggests that her
husband is having an affair. The reality is obvious, but the wronged wife is so
threatened by her husband's infidelity that she is unable to accept it, and so
denies its existence.
Anti-gun people do the same thing. It's obvious that we live in a dangerous
society, where criminals attack innocent people. Just about everyone has been,
or knows someone who has been, victimized. It's equally obvious that law
enforcement can't protect everyone everywhere 24 hours a day. Extensive
scholarly research demonstrates that the police have no legal duty to protect
you10 and that firearm ownership is the most effective way to protect yourself
and your family.11 There is irrefutable evidence that victim disarmament nearly
always precedes genocide.12 Nonetheless, the anti-gun folks insist, despite all
evidence to the contrary, that "the police will protect you", "this is a safe
neighborhood" and "it can't happen here", where "it" is everything from mugging
to mass murder.
Anti-gun people who refuse to accept the reality of the proven and very serious
dangers of civilian disarmament are using denial to protect themselves from the
anxiety of feeling helpless and vulnerable. Likewise, gun owners who insist that
"the government will never confiscate my guns" are also using denial to protect
themselves from the anxiety of contemplating being forcibly disarmed and
rendered helpless and vulnerable.
Reaction Formation
Reaction formation is yet another defense mechanism common among the anti-gun
folks. Reaction formation occurs when a person's mind turns an unacceptable
feeling or desire into its complete opposite.13 For example, a child who is
jealous of a sibling may exhibit excessive love and devotion for the hated
brother or sister.
Likewise, a person who harbors murderous rage toward his fellow humans may claim
to be a devoted pacifist and refuse to eat meat or even kill a cockroach.14
Often such people take refuge in various spiritual disciplines and believe that
they are "superior" to "less civilized" folks who engage in "violent behavior"
such as hunting, or even target shooting. They may devote themselves to "animal
welfare" organizations that proclaim that the rights of animals take precedence
over the rights of people.15 This not only allows the angry person to avoid
dealing with his rage, it allows him actually to harm the people he hates
without having to know he hates them.
This is not meant to disparage the many wonderful people who are pacifists,
spiritually inclined, vegetarian, or who support animal welfare. The key issue
is not the belief itself, but rather the way in which the person experiences and
lives his beliefs. Sincere practitioners seek to improve themselves, or to be
helpful in a gentle, respectful fashion. They work to persuade others peacefully
by setting an example of what they believe to be correct behavior. Sincere
pacifists generally exhibit good will towards others, even towards persons with
whom they might disagree on various issues.
Contrast the sincere pacifist or animal lover with the strident, angry person
who wants to ban meat and who believes murdering hunters is justified in order
to "save the animals" – or the person who wants to outlaw self- defense and
believes innocent people have the obligation to be raped and murdered for the
good of society. For example, noted feminist Betty Friedan said "that lethal
violence even in self defense only engenders more violence."16 The truly
spiritual, pacifist person refrains from forcing others to do what he believes,
and is generally driven by positive emotions, while the angry person finds
"socially acceptable" ways to harm, abuse, or even kill, his fellow man.
In the case of anti-gun people, reaction formation keeps any knowledge of their
hatred for their fellow humans out of consciousness, while allowing them to feel
superior to "violent gun owners". At the same time, it also allows them to cause
serious harm, and even loss of life, to others by denying them the tools
necessary to defend themselves. This makes reaction formation very attractive
from a psychological point of view, and therefore very difficult to counteract.
Defense Mechanisms Are Not Mental Illnesses
Defense mechanisms are normal. All of us use them to some extent, and their use
does not imply mental illness. Advocates of victim disarmament may be misguided
or uninformed, they may be stupid, or they may be consciously intent on evil,
but that doesn't necessarily mean they are "mentally ill".
Some defense mechanisms, however, are healthier than others. A safe general rule
is that a defense is healthy if it helps you to function better in your personal
and professional life, and unhealthy if it interferes with your life, your
relationships, or the well-being of others. Young children utilize projection
and denial much more commonly than do healthy adults. On the other hand, "if
projection is used as a defense mechanism to a very great extent in adult life,
the user's perception of external reality will be seriously distorted."17
Defense mechanisms are also frequently combined, so that an anti-gun person may
use several defense mechanisms simultaneously. For example, my unfortunate
correspondent uses projection to create a world in which all his neighbors want
to murder him. As a result, he becomes more angry and fearful, and needs to
employ even more defense mechanisms to cope. So he uses projection to attribute
his own rage to others, he uses denial that there is any danger to protect
himself from a world where he believes he is helpless and everyone wants to
murder him, and he uses reaction formation to try to control everyone else's
life because his own is so horribly out of control.
Also, it's important to remember that not all anti-gun beliefs are the result of
defense mechanisms. Some people suffer from gun phobia18, an excessive and
completely irrational fear of firearms, usually caused by the anti-gun
conditioning they've been subjected to by the media, politicians, so-called
"educators," and others. In some cases, gun phobia is caused by an authentic bad
experience associated with a firearm. But with all due respect to Col. Jeff
Cooper, who coined the term "hoplophobia" to describe anti-gun people, most
anti-gun people do not have true phobias. Interestingly, a person with a true
phobia of guns realizes his fear is excessive or unreasonable,19 something most
anti-gun folks will never admit.
Defense mechanisms distort reality
Because defense mechanisms distort reality in order to avoid unpleasant
emotions, the person who uses them has an impaired ability to recognize and
accept reality. This explains why my e-mail correspondent and many other
anti-gun people persist in believing that their neighbors and co- workers will
become mass murderers if allowed to own firearms.
People who legally carry concealed firearms are actually less violent and less
prone to criminal activity of all kinds than is the general population.20 A
person who has a clean record, has passed an FBI background check, undergone
firearms training, and spent several hundred dollars to get a permit and a
firearm, is highly unlikely to choose to murder a neighbor. Doing so would
result in his facing a police manhunt, a trial, prison, possibly capital
punishment, and the destruction of his family, job, and reputation. Obviously it
would make no sense for such a person to shoot a neighbor - except in
self-defense. Equally obviously, the anti-gun person who believes that malicious
shootings by ordinary gun owners are likely to occur is not in touch with
reality.21
The Common Thread: Rage
In my experience, the common thread in anti-gun people is rage. Either anti-gun
people harbor more rage than others, or they're less able to cope with it
appropriately. Because they can't handle their own feelings of rage, they are
forced to use defense mechanisms in an unhealthy manner. Because they wrongly
perceive others as seeking to harm them, they advocate the disarmament of
ordinary people who have no desire to harm anyone. So why do anti-gun people
have so much rage and why are they unable to deal with it in appropriate ways?
Consider for a moment that the largest and most hysterical anti-gun groups
include disproportionately large numbers of women, African- Americans and Jews.
And virtually all of the organizations that claim to speak for these "oppressed
people" are stridently anti-gun. Not coincidentally, among Jews, Blacks and
women there are many "professional victims" who have little sense of identity
outside of their victimhood.
Identity as Victim
If I were to summarize this article in three sentences, they would be:
(1) People who identify themselves as "victims" harbor excessive amounts of rage
at other people, whom they perceive as "not victims."
(2) In order psychologically to deal with this rage, these "victims" utilize
defense mechanisms that enable them to harm others in socially acceptable ways,
without accepting responsibility or suffering guilt, and without having to give
up their status as "victims."
(3) Gun owners are frequently the targets of professional victims because gun
owners are willing and able to prevent their own victimization.
Thus the concept of "identity as victim" is essential. How and why do members of
some groups choose to identify themselves as victims and teach their children to
do the same? While it's true that women, Jews, and African- Americans have
historically been victimized, they now participate in American society on an
equal basis. And other groups, most notably Asian-Americans, have been equally
victimized, and yet have transcended the "eternal victim" mentality.
Why, for example, would a 6'10" NBA player who makes $10 million a year see
himself as a "victim"? Why would a successful, respected, wealthy, Jewish
physician regard himself as a "victim"? Conversely, why might a wheelchair bound
woman who lives on government disability NOT regard herself as a victim?
I would argue it's because the basketball player and the physician believe that
their identities are dependent on being victims – not because they have actually
been victimized, but because they're members of groups that claim victim status.
Conversely, the disabled woman was probably raised to believe that she is
responsible for her own success or failure.
In fact, many people who have been victims of actual violent crime, or who have
survived war or civil strife, support the right of self-defense. The old saying
is often correct: "a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged."
Special Treatment and Misleading Leaders
Two reasons for these groups to insist on "victim" status seem likely. First, by
claiming victim status, members of these groups can demand (and get) special
treatment through quotas, affirmative action, reparations, and other
preferential treatment programs.
Second, these people have been indoctrinated to believe that there is no
alternative to remaining a victim forever. Their leaders remind them constantly
that they are mistreated in every imaginable way (most of them imaginary!),
attribute every one of life's misfortunes to "racism" or "sexism" or "hate
crimes", and dream up ever more complex schemes for special treatment and
favors.22 These leaders are the ones who preach that the entire Black experience
is slavery and racism, or that Jewish history before and after the Holocaust is
irrelevant,23 or that happily married women are really victims of sexual
slavery.24
Likewise, the NAACP is suing firearms manufacturers to put them out of
business,25 and is especially opposed to the inexpensive pistols that enable the
poor to defend themselves in gang-ridden inner cities. The Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) proposed evicting anyone who dares to keep a tool of
self-defense in any of its crime-infested housing projects. Jewish leaders,
especially those in the politically correct "Reform" branch, preach that gun
control is "a solemn religious obligation",26 contrary to the teachings of their
sacred scriptures and their own history.27 Law enforcement agencies falsely
teach women that they are safest if they don't resist rapists and robbers,28
while women's organizations advocate gun control, thus rendering women and their
children defenseless.
Victimhood is good business for organizations that foster victim status. As
victims, the members depend upon the organization to protect them, and the
organization in turn relies on members for funding and political power. In the
interest of self-preservation, these organizations work hard at preserving
hatred and bigotry and at keeping their members defenseless – and therefore
dependent.
Anti-gun groups love victims!
From my observations, pro-victimhood is a feature of all of the anti-gun special
interest groups, not just the ones mentioned here. Every organization that
supports gun control apparently wants its members to be helpless, terrified and
totally dependent on someone else to control every aspect of their lives. It
doesn't matter whether it's a religious, racial, ethnic, political, social, or
charitable group. From Handgun Control, Inc. to the Anti- Defamation League to
the Million Mom March, they all want you to live in fear. In this scheme, soccer
moms are "victims" just as much as are inner-city minorities.
If these organizations truly cared about the people for whom they claim to
speak, they would encourage safe and responsible firearms ownership. They would
help people to learn how to defend themselves and their families so that they
wouldn't have to live in fear. They would tell everyone that one of the
wonderful things about being an American is that you have the right to keep and
bear arms, the right to defend yourself, and how these rights preserve the right
to be free.
The psychological price of being a victim
In our current society, victimhood has many perceived benefits, but there are
some serious drawbacks. Victims tend to see the world as a scary and threatening
place. They believe that others treat them differently, unfairly, and even
maliciously – and that they are helpless to do anything about it. This belief,
that they are being mistreated and are helpless to resist, generates tremendous
rage, and often, serious depression.
But for victims to show rage openly can be dangerous, if not outright suicidal.
For example, a battered woman who screams at or hits her attacker may provoke
worse beatings or even her own murder. And a person who successfully defends
himself loses his status as "victim." For someone whose entire identity is
dependent on being a victim, the loss of victim status is just as threatening as
loss of life.
So, unable psychologically to cope with such rage, people who view themselves as
victims: (1) use defense mechanisms to displace it into irrational beliefs about
neighbors killing each other, and the infallibility of police protection, and
(2) attempt to regain control by controlling gun owners, whom they wrongly
perceive as "the enemy".
Say NO to being a victim!
But no one needs to be a victim! Quite simply, it's not very easy to victimize a
person who owns and knows how to use a firearm. If most women owned and carried
firearms, rapes and beating would decrease.29 Thugs who target the elderly and
disabled would find honest work once they realized they were likely to be
looking down the barrel of a pistol or shotgun. It's nearly impossible to
enslave, or herd into concentration camps, large numbers of armed people.
Communicating with anti-gun people
How can you communicate more effectively with an anti-gun person who is using
unhealthy defense mechanisms? There are no quick and easy answers. But there are
a few things you should keep in mind.
Anger and attacks do not work
Most gun owners, when confronted by an anti-gun person, become angry and
hostile. This is understandable, because gun owners increasingly face ridicule,
persecution and discrimination. (If you don't believe this, ask yourself if
anyone would seriously introduce legislation to ban African- Americans, women,
or Jews from post offices, schools, and churches. Even convicted felons aren't
banned from such places – but peaceful armed citizens are!) But an angry
response is counterproductive.
It's not helpful to attack the person you're trying to persuade. Anything that
makes him feel more fearful or angry will only intensify his defenses. Your goal
is to help the person feel safe, and then to provide experiences and information
that will help him to make informed decisions.
Be Gentle
You should never try to break down a defense mechanism by force. Remember that
defense mechanisms protect people from feelings they cannot handle, and if you
take that protection away, you can cause serious psychological harm. And because
defense mechanisms operate unconsciously, it won't do any good to show an
anti-gun person this article or to point out that he's using defense mechanisms.
Your goal is gently and gradually to help the person to have a more realistic
and rational view of the world. This cannot be done in one hour or one day.
As you reach out to people in this way, you need to deal with both the illogical
thought processes involved and the emotional reactions that anti-gun people have
to firearms. When dealing with illogical thought processes, you are attempting
to use reason and logic to convince the anti-gun person that his perception of
other people and his perception of firearms are seriously inaccurate. The goal
is to help him to understand that armed citizens and firearms are not threats,
and may even save his life.
Reversing Irrational thoughts
The Mirror Technique
One approach that can be helpful is simply to feed back what the anti-gun person
is telling you, in a neutral, inquisitive way. So, when replying to my anonymous
e-mail correspondent (above), I might respond, "So you fear if your neighbors
had guns, they would use them to murder you. What makes you think that?" When
you simply repeat what the person has said, and ask questions, you are not
directly challenging his defenses. You are holding up a mirror to let him see
his own views. If he has very strong defenses, he can continue to insist that
his neighbors want to murder him. However, if his defenses are less rigid, he
may start to question his position.
Another example might be, "Why do you think that your children's schoolteachers
would shoot them?" You might follow this up with something like, "Why do you
entrust your precious children to someone you believe would murder them?" Again,
you are merely asking questions, and not directly attacking the person or his
defenses.
Of course the anti-gun person might continue to insist that the teachers really
would harm children, but prohibiting them from owning guns would prevent it. So
you might ask how using a gun to murder innocent children is different from
stabbing children with scissors, assaulting them with baseball bats, or
poisoning the milk and cookies.
It's important to ask "open-ended" questions that require a response other than
"yes" or "no". Such questions require the anti-gun person actually to think
about what he is saying. This will help him to re-examine his beliefs. It may
also encourage him to ask you questions about firearms use and ownership.
The "What Would You Do?" Technique
Once you have a dialogue going with an anti-gun person, you might want to insert
him into a hypothetical scenario, although doing so is a greater threat to his
defenses, and is therefore more risky. You might ask how he would deal with a
difficult or annoying co-worker. He will likely respond that he would never
resort to violence, but "other people" would, especially if they had guns.
(Projection again.) You can then ask him who these "other people" are, why they
would shoot a co-worker, and what the shooter would gain by doing so.
Don't try to "win" the argument. Don't try to embarrass the person you're trying
to educate. Remember that no one likes to admit that his deeply held beliefs are
wrong. No one likes to hear "I told you so!" Be patient and gentle. If you are
arrogant, condescending, hurtful or rude to the anti-gun person, you will only
convince him that gun owners are arrogant, hurtful people – who should not be
trusted with guns!
Defusing Emotional reactions
The "You Are There" Technique
Rational arguments alone are not likely to be successful, especially since many
people "feel" rather than "think". You also need to deal with the emotional
responses of the anti-gun person. Remember that most people have been
conditioned to associate firearms with dead toddlers. So you need to change the
person's emotional responses along with his thoughts.
One way to do this is to put the anti-gun person (or his family) at a
hypothetical crime scene and ask what he would like to have happen. For example,
"Imagine your wife is in the parking lot at the supermarket and two men grab
her. One holds a knife to her throat while the other tears her clothes off. If I
see this happening and have a gun, what should I do? What would happen next?
What if after five minutes, the police still haven't arrived?"
Just let him answer the questions and mentally walk through the scenario. Don't
argue with his answers. You are planting seeds in his mind than can help change
his emotional responses.
The Power of Empathy
Another emotion-based approach that is often more successful is to respond
sympathetically to the plight of the anti-gun person.
Imagine for a moment how you would feel if you believed your neighbors and
co-workers wanted to kill you and your family, and you could do nothing at all
about it except to wait for the inevitable to occur.
Not very pleasant, is it?
This is the world in which opponents of armed self-defense live. All of us have
had times in our lives when we felt "different" and had to contend with hostile
schoolmates, co- workers, etc. So we need to invoke our own compassion for these
terrified people. Say something like, "It must be awful to live in fear of being
assaulted by your own neighbors. I remember what it was like when I was the only
(Jew, Mormon, African-American, Republican) in my (class, football team,
workplace) – and even then I didn't think anyone was going to kill me." It's
essential that you sincerely feel some compassion and empathy; if you're glib or
sarcastic, this won't work.
Using empathy works in several ways. First, it defuses a potentially hostile
interaction. Anti-gun people are used to being attacked, not understood, by
advocates of gun rights. Instead of an "evil, gun-toting, extremist", you are
now a sympathetic, fellow human being. This may also open the door for a
friendly conversation, in which you can each discover that your "opponent" is a
person with whom you have some things in common. You may even create an
opportunity to dispel some of the misinformation about firearms and self-defense
that is so prevalent.
This empathy technique is also useful for redirecting, or ending, a heated
argument that has become hostile and unproductive. It allows you to escape from
the dead end of "guns save lives" vs. "the only reason to have a gun is to
murder children." With empathy you can reframe the argument entirely. Instead of
arguing about whether more lives are saved or lost as a result of gun ownership,
you can comment on how terrifying it must be to live in a country where 80
million people own guns "solely for the purpose of murdering children".
You should not expect any of these approaches to work immediately; they won't.
With rare exceptions, the anti-gun person is simply not going to "see the
light," thank you profusely, and beg you to take him shooting. What you are
doing is putting tiny chinks into the armor of the person's defenses, or
planting seeds that may someday develop into a more open mind or a more rational
analysis. This process can take months or years. But it does work!
Corrective Experiences
Perhaps the most effective way to dissolve defense mechanisms, however, is by
providing corrective experiences30. Corrective experiences are experiences that
allow a person to learn that his ideas about gun owners and guns are incorrect
in a safe and non-threatening way. To provide a corrective experience, you first
allow the person to attempt to project his incorrect ideas onto you. Then, you
demonstrate that he is wrong by your behavior, not by arguing.
For example, the anti-gun person will unconsciously attempt to provoke you by
claiming that gun owners are uneducated "rednecks," or by treating you as if you
are an uneducated "redneck." If you get angry and respond by calling him a
"stupid, liberal, socialist", you will prove his point. However, if you casually
talk about your M.B.A., your trip to the Shakespeare festival, your vegetable
garden, or your daughter's ballet recital, you will provide him with the
opportunity to correct his misconceptions.
If you have used the above techniques, then you have already provided one
corrective experience. You have demonstrated to the frightened, anti-gun person
that gun owners are not abusive, scary, dangerous and sub-human monsters, but
normal, everyday people who care about their families, friends and even
strangers.
As many gun owners have already discovered, the most important corrective
experiences involve actually exposing the fearful person to a firearm. It is
almost never advisable to tell someone that you carry a concealed firearm, but
there are ways to use your own experience favorably.
For example, if you're dealing with an anti-gun person with whom you interact
regularly and have a generally good relationship – a coworker, neighbor, church
member, etc. – you might indirectly refer to concealed carry. You should never
say anything like "I'm carrying a gun right now and you can't even tell,"
especially because in some states that would be considered illegal,
"threatening" behavior. But you might consider saying something like, "I
sometimes carry a firearm, and you've never seemed to be uncomfortable around
me." Whether to disclose this information is an individual decision, and you
should consider carefully other consequences before using this approach.
First-hand experience
Ultimately, your goal is to take the anti-gun person shooting. Some people will
accept an invitation to accompany you to the range, but others are too
frightened to do so, and will need some preliminary experience.
First, you want to encourage the anti-gun person to have some contact with a
firearm in whatever way feels most comfortable to him. Many people seem to
believe that firearms have minds of their own and shoot people of their own
volition. So you might want to start by inviting him simply to look at and then
handle an unloaded firearm. This also provides you the opportunity to show the
inexperienced person how to tell whether a firearm is loaded and to teach him
the basic rules of firearms safety.
Encourage the newcomer to ask questions and remember that your role is to
present accurate information in a friendly, responsible and non-threatening way.
This is a good time to offer some reading material on the benefits of firearms
ownership. But be careful not to provide so much information that it's
overwhelming. And remember this is not the time to launch into anti-government
rants, the New World Order, conspiracy theories, or any kind of political talk!
Next, you can invite your friend to accompany you to the shooting range. (And if
you're going to trust each other with loaded guns, you should consider
yourselves friends!) Assure him that no one will force him to shoot a gun and
he's free just to watch. Let him know in advance what he will experience and
what will be expected of him. This includes such things as the need for eye and
ear protection, a cap, appropriate clothing, etc. Make sure you have a firearm
appropriate for your guest should s/he decide to try shooting. This means a
lower caliber firearm that doesn't have too much recoil. If your guest is a
woman, make sure the firearm will fit her appropriately. Many rifles have stocks
that are too long for small women, and double-stack semi-autos are usually too
large for a woman's hand.
Remember that just visiting the range can be a corrective experience. Your guest
will learn that gun owners are disciplined, responsible, safety-conscious,
courteous, considerate, and follow the rules. He will see people of all ages,
from children to the elderly, male and female, enjoying an activity together. He
will not see a single "beer-swilling redneck" waving a firearm in people's
faces.
In my experience, most people who visit a range will decide they do want to try
shooting. Remember to make sure your guest understands all the safety rules and
range rules before allowing him to handle a firearm. If you don't feel competent
to teach a newcomer to shoot, ask an instructor or range master to assist.
Remember to provide lots of positive feedback and encouragement. If you're
lucky, you'll recruit a new firearms enthusiast.
But even if your guest decides that shooting is "not for him", he will have
learned many valuable lessons. He will know basic rules of firearms safety, and
how to clear a firearm should he need to do so. This may well save his life
someday. He will know that guns do not fire unless a person pulls the trigger.
He will know that gun owners are friendly, responsible people, not very
different from him. Even if he chooses not to fire a gun ever again, he will be
less likely to fear and persecute gun owners. And who knows – a few months or
years later he may decide to become a gun owner.
Why these techniques do not always work
You should remember that you will not be successful with all anti-gun people.
Some people are so terrified and have such strong defenses, that it's not
possible for someone without professional training to get through. Some people
have their minds made up and refuse to consider opening them. Others may concede
that what you say "makes sense," but are unwilling to challenge the forces of
political correctness. A few may have had traumatic experiences with firearms
from which they have not recovered.
You will also not be successful with the anti-gun ideologues, people like
Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein. These people have made a conscious choice
to oppose firearms ownership and self-defense. They almost always gain power,
prestige, and money from their anti-gun politics. They are not interested in the
facts or in saving lives. They know the facts and understand the consequences of
their actions, and will happily sacrifice innocent people if it furthers their
selfish agenda. Do not use these techniques on such people. They only respond to
fears of losing the power, prestige and money that they covet.31
Conclusion
By better understanding advocates of civilian disarmament, and by learning and
practicing some simple techniques to deal with their psychological defenses, you
will be much more effective in your efforts to communicate with anti-gun people.
This will enable you to be more successful at educating them about the realities
of firearms and self- defense, and their importance to our liberty and safety.
Educating others about firearms is hard work. It's not glamorous, and it
generally needs to be done one person at a time. But it's a very necessary and
important task. The average American supports freedom of speech and freedom of
religion, whether or not he chooses to exercise them. He supports fair trials,
whether or not he's ever been in a courtroom. He likewise needs to understand
that self- defense is an essential right, whether or not he chooses to own or
carry a gun.
© 2000, Sarah Thompson.
Dr. Thompson is Executive Director of Utah Gun Owners Alliance, www.utgoa.org
and also writes The Righter, www.therighter.com, a monthly column on individual
rights.
Notes
1 Lott, John R., Jr. 1998. More Guns, Less Crime. University of Chicago Press.
Pp. 11-12; Proposition B: More Security Or Greater Danger?, St. Louis
Post-Dispatch. March 21, 1999.
2 Lott 1998, Pp. 1-2.
3 Kaplan, Harold M. and Sadock, Benjamin J. 1990. Pocket Handbook of Clinical
Psychiatry. Williams & Wilkins. P. 20.
4Brenner, Charles. 1973. An Elementary Textbook of Psychoanalysis (rev. ed.).
Anchor Books. Pp. 91-93; Lefton, Lester A. 1994. Psychology (5th edition). Allyn
& Bacon. Pp. 432-433.
5 Brenner 1973. P. 91.
6 Kaplan and Sadock 1990, p. 20; Lefton 1994, p. 432.
7 Talbott, John A., Robert E. Hales and Stuart C. Yudofsky, eds. 1988. Textbook
of Psychiatry. American Psychiatric Press. P.137.
8 "Kids Suspended for Playground Game." Associated Press. April 6, 2000.
9 Lightfoot, Liz. "Gun Return to the Nursery School Toy Chest." The London
Telegraph. May 22, 2000. Kaplan and Sadock 1990, p. 20; Lefton 1994, p. 433.
10 Stevens, Richard W. 1999. Dial 911 and Die. Mazel Freedom Press. [Analyzes
the law in 54 U.S. jurisdictions]; see, e.g., Bowers v. DeVito, 686 F.2d 616,
618 (7th Cir. 1982) [no federal constitutional right to police protection.]
11 Kleck, Gary and Gertz, Marc. 1995. Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence
and Nature of Self- Defense with a Gun. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology.
Vol. 86 (Fall), pp. 150-187.
12 Simkin, Jay, Zelman, Aaron, and Rice, Alan M. 1994. Lethal Laws. Jews for the
Preservation of Firearms Ownership.
13 Kaplan and Sadock 1990, p. 20; Lefton 1994, p. 433.
14 Brenner 1973, p. 85.
15 Veith, Gene Edward, Jr. 1993. Modern Fascism: Liquidating the Judeo-Christian
Worldview. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing. Pp. 39-40 [fascism exalts nature,
animals and environment].
16 Japenga, A. 1994. Would I Be Safer with a Gun? Health. March/April, p. 54.
17 Brenner 1973, p. 92.
18 Kaplan and Sadock 1990, p. 219.
19 American Psychiatric Association. 1994. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. P. 410.
20 Lott 1998, pp. 11-12.
21 Most American gun owners are not violent criminals and will not be potential
killers. "The vast majority of persons involved in life-threatening violence
have a long criminal record and many prior contacts with the justice system."
Elliott, Delbert S. 1998. Life Threatening Violence is Primarily a Crime
Problem: A Focus on Prevention. University of Colorado Law Review. Vol. 69
(Fall), pp. 1081-1098, at 1093.
22 Sowell, Thomas. 2000. Blacks and bootstraps. Jewish World Review (Aug.14).
http://www.jewishworldreview.com
23x Wein, Rabbi Berel. 2000. The return of a Torah scroll and confronting
painful memories. Jewish World Review (July 12).
24 Dworkin, Andrea. "Terror, Torture and Resistance". http://www.igc.org/Womensnet/dworkin/TerrorTortureandResistance.html
25 Mfume, Kweisi, speech at the 90th annual NAACP meeting, July 12, 1999.
http://www.naacp.org/president/speeches/90th%20Annual%20Meeting.htm
26 Yoffie, Rabbi Eric H. Speech supporting the Million Mom March, May 14, 2000.
http://uahc.org/yoffie/mmm.html
27 "If someone comes to kill you, arise quickly and kill him." The Talmud,
Tractate Sanhedrin. 1994. The Schottenstein Edition. New York: Mesorah
Publications. Vol. 2, 72a.
28 Rape and Sexual Assault, Dean of Students Office for Women's Resources and
Services McKinley Health Education Dept., University Police, University of
Illinois; Hazelwood, R. R. & Harpold, J. 1986. Rape: The Dangers of Providing
Confrontational Advice, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Vol. 55, pp. 1-5.
29 Lott 1998, pp. 78, 134-37.
30 Frank, Jerome D. 1961. Persuasion and Healing. The Johns Hopkins Press. Pp.
216-217.
31 Richardson, H. L. 1998. Confrontational Politics. Gun Owners Foundation. 1
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