Grassroots Idea

I absolutely think taking people who are ignorant about guns shooting is a fantastic idea and many people do it all the time. Some times with success, some times without.

I would suggest however that starting someone with zero experience off with a .22 might be more enjoyable for them and therefore more likely to want to do it again.

Good luck.
Shawn

I see it as an idea that might help, but most lib gun haters are blind to any but their own views.

xfyrfiter said:

I see it as an idea that might help, but most lib gun haters are blind to any but their own views.

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Don't be too sure about that. I have been running a safety/handling/shooting course for some time now and it has been completely successful. Many of the people who have taken it have no previous experience with firearms and some have had preconceived notions of anti-gun sentiments.

Often, those that you may think are completely anti- and have voiced their opinion as such may very well be open to a polite invitation to experience shooting in a safe manner. It is all in how you approach it, be educational and show enthusiasm.

I am taking a couple to the range that have very limited experience with guns. Wife has never handled or shot any firearms, husband has only had a cursory level of instruction to handle blank firing "weapons" for a theater play. Both are very excited about our venture scheduled for late January.

I supply all ammo, eye and ear protection and guest access to our gun club, no cost to participants.

I do this on referral only, not open to the public. My wife and I know enough people that the word gets around and we get phone calls from friends or acquaintences. The couple mentioned above are cousins of my brother's wife. I have never met them before but have exchanged several e-mails laying out the program. I make it a point to roll out the red carpet.

This is one of the best face-to-face actions we can take to break through the anti-gun fear and mis-information spread by the MSM and politicians. Often it is a one-by-one winning scheme that is a valuable, incremental investment in spreading the knowledge and understanding of the safe use of firearms.

Dan

Did this exact thing this weekend. The extended family was together for the holidays and I brought along both my and the girlfriend's handguns. Extended an invitation to whoever would like to come, and said I would pay for the range time and ammo. Had a few takers, and a couple gracefully declined. There were only two people at the line at one time, the rest could watch from behind the glass. When one finished, they would go out and hand off the muffs and glasses to the next person and we did that until everyone had got enough shooting in. All in all, it was a good experience. Got one person out on the range who has never shot a gun of any type before.

Though I have offered this to a few anti-gun people, I have never had one take me up on it. I don't have a AR but I have three friends that would go for the chance to re- educate an anti. So, you have a great idea. Make it light, fun, and safe. Keep the crowd very low so its very personal with them. You can make this work! GO FOR IT!

I applaud you for trying and keep up the good work. The sad truth though is that I've offered anti-gun people I know to go shoot my ak,glock,870,j-frame,etc...after a safety briefing as you described. I'm not giving up but none of them have taken me up on the offer. Just like none of them changed their stance after I used facts and statistics to counter their emotionally charged and factually inaccurate statments.

sherman123 said:

I applaud you for trying and keep up the good work. The sad truth though is that I've offered anti-gun people I know to go shoot my ak,glock,870,j-frame,etc...after a safety briefing as you described. I'm not giving up but none of them have taken me up on the offer. Just like none of them changed their stance after I used facts and statistics to counter their emotionally charged and factually inaccurate statments.

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You may already know this but sometimes you have to be discrete. If you mention the offer in front of two antis they may not want to admit to wanting to go with you and lose face with their buddy.

I had a friend from Sweden that would not admit to being interested in front of a group he was sure were all fervent antis. He was rather outspoken as an anti and he was a bit shocked that my wife and I were avid shooters. I approached him individually and he quietly told me he was indeed interested. I took him, he let on to his buddies in his own way and guess what? They were interested as well. So we ended up with 4 or 5 Swedes out at the range shooting up the place.

On their next visit to the US, all they could think about was going shooting and visiting gun stores in the area. There were new additions to the tech group from Sweden and all were automatically ready to go (thanks to Ronny).

It was great fun and I got "Thank You" cards from Stockholm shortly after they arrived home.

Dan

Vandyatc,

A gent' I was shooting with this weekend was telling me about a nice public range at Fort Knox. If that won't pan out, consider an indoor range. I know that 'Open Range' in crestwood, although pricey, will let you shoot up to a .50BMG, and is a very nice facility...

While your intentions are good, I would save your ammo. Changing years of brainwashing can not be done in one afternoon at the range.

Jim

My wife is an anti, but she puts up with my collecting firearms and reloading, because I put up with her collecting antiques.

jim243 said:

While your intentions are good, I would save your ammo. Changing years of brainwashing can not be done in one afternoon at the range.

Jim

My wife is an anti, but she puts up with my collecting firearms and reloading, because I put up with her collecting antiques.

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I'm sorry, but I have to disagree vehemently. If you were kept in a windowless basement your entire life and told that the sky was purple, you would believe it. However if you were to walk outside and see it for yourself, you would know instantly that you have been lied to your entire life.

The point is that many antis are only antis because of their own ignorance and the lies that they have been spoon fed.

Take people to a Appleseed.. Along the same lines but really gets the point across with a little taught thing called the revolution, why and how it happened.. fantastic time to be jad

The point is that many antis are only antis because of their own ignorance and the lies that they have been spoon fed.

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Let's just leave it you and I don't agree on this, and people are not as stupid as you think they are.

Jim

I've started taking this approach recently here in Chicago. So far he biggest issue is sort of getting people out to the range here as I need to convince them to get their FOID first.

VVelox,

You might want to go ahead and offer it to them. If they accept then start explaining the process of getting an FOID. If they decide it's too much work for just a trip to the range, then start a discussion about why a law abiding citizen shouldn't need to jump through so many hoops just to go and practice with their firearm.

I take antis or fence sitters to the range all the time. To date the number is somewhere around 3 dozen and this includes my immediate family. I pay for the ammo, range time and any other expenses that occur. If nothing else it gets people off my back. I have enough firearms that a wide range of calibers and actions can be shot to broaden just about anyone's horizons.

Screamin'Eagle, yup.

Going to be posting something to FB tomorrow offering up to teach people as well as walk them through getting their FOID.

I've had good luck with the so far here at work. Two new FOIDs and three people working on their CFPs.

Good work. Keep it up!