Some good people really ARE clueless

[Sisco]

One of my Uncles dropped by today. He's about 70, has hunted deer & upland game for as long as I can remember and is definitely pro-gun.
Anyway, while he was here I showed him my newest acquisition, a Bushmaster AR.
I handed it to him, he did a glance around the room (nobody there but me and him) and said in a low voice "Where did you get this?"
Told him I got it at the gunshow last month.
"Aren't they illegal?"
I told him it wasn't.
"Is it full auto?".
Again I told him it wasn't.

An hour or so before that, another Uncle about the same age had dropped by. First thing he asked was "Where's that .223 you got at the gunshow?" Showed it to him, his only question was if I was set up to reload for it yet.

 

[Hoppy590]

i asked a friend if she was interested in a bow.( jokeingly) she declined, i said. oh. well im gunna sell it and get a .45-70. i then explained what a 45-70 was she then says. "you shouldnt do that, guns are illegal" i proceeded to explain how they are infact quite legal.

 

[ilcylic]

Hoppy: Well, you are in MA. It's easy to see how she might be confused.

 

[kungfuhippie]

When I told my sister I got an Arisaka rifle...an old bolt action japanese rifle from WWII (had to explain that to her). She contested that I shouldn't be buying assault weapons like that. :banghead: She was relieved when I explained that practically no-one even sells ammo for them anymore since the japanese wern't allowed to produce arms post war. Oh well it doesn't help that according to her guns kill people. Good thing my Japanese "assault rifle" has been starved for over 50 years so it's now too weak to do any killing

 

[bogie]

And the progressive promoter of the 2nd amendment will then say...

"So, hey, would you like to shoot it? I can pick you up the next time I go to the range."

 

[Geronimo45]

Sisco, I thought the same thing at my first gunshow. 'Course, I was a kid at that time. If the only time you see 'em is on movies where they're full auto, and on news where they're described as 'assault weapons', it wouldn't be a surprise to think they were full-auto.

 

[22-rimfire]

Geronimo: I agree with you. If guns are not your thing, it is only human nature to characterize them as likely being full-auto or select fire when you see the same sort of firearms on the news and movies/TV shows.

Sisco: Interesting how communicative uncles can be about their nephews. Uncle No. 1 probably is not into guns or care much for them except maybe to go hunting with years ago. Uncle No. 2 likes guns and is familiar with what is legal and what is likely not. Your title lead sterotyped your uncles and not kindly. But you did say "Good".

 

[wjustinen]

I'm a Canadian (and a grandfather) and I fail to see the significance of "not full auto". Until 1978 automatic weapons here in the frozen north were restricted weapons (just like handguns) and they became the first victims in the current climate :banghead: (not global warming -it's been snowing for days now) but social engineering .

Contrary to the current penchant for re-writing history, I grew up around firearms of all kinds and they were never considered to be anything more or less than tools.

 

[HuntAndFish]

I work in a office and right after Katrina was riding in my car to lunch with some other guys in the office. They were talking about Katrina and what would be the best weapon to defend against looters. I am a known hunter to these folks so they asked me what I thought was the best weapon to defend against looters. I said a 12 gauge shotgun with 18" barrel and extended magazine tube like the police use. They asked "are those legal"? Now, these guys are grown men in their 30s and 40s.
Incredulous, I said "yes, I have one in my trunk right now."

 

[bclark1]

I didn't grow up around them and I don't see them as more or less.

I spend more time than I'd like to on the soapbox, but I feel like my friends and family are much more intelligent about firearms for it. My mom worked for years as an ICU nurse, and came out of that thinking negatively about firearms because she'd only seen the harm they'd caused. Now she likes shooting with me (wish I got home more often to take her, though) and will take the right side when her goofy liberal friends act all shocked and worried that her family shoots and keeps guns around.

Glad to hear about situations where people are open to learn though. This is EXACTLY what we need to do. I'm with the NRA for solidarity, but they need to work on their public relations. We need the smiley face, sex appeal, if you will, that all those smooth-talking libs have. It's important to get people out shooting, demystify guns, and show that most gun owners today are intelligent people, not someone you could pick out of a crowd, and not the aggressive, fringe folks that the antis do such a good job portraying us as.

 

[kungfuhippie]

Maybe the NRA should do some TV commercials along this, educate the ignorant masses. Show a normal person/gun owner, tell a story about them being attacked or robbed and how they were able to ward off the BG because of the RKBA. Something that shows soccer mom or Metro-sexual guy, or college girl, or family man. And emphasis on safety and responsibility. Some emotionally based garbage that will leave a soccer mom feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
-sorry if this counts as a hijack. I just think that maybe the NRA could spend some money doing things like this where the average joe who never even spent two minutes thinking about firearms will be a little more informed as he watches American Idol barf: ). I think getting the uninformed mob educated will do us far more long term than what lobbying for votes is doing short term.