While reading badly written Anti 2A screeds can be infuriating it is important when they come from publications with large distribution. This "Idea" piece in the Atlantic is such a clearly and unabashedly biased article.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/10/responsible-gun-ownership-is-a-lie/619811/
Like all good propaganda pieces it uses truths to spring off of. There have been a huge increase in shootings in 20 an 21 compared to the previous decade. There are about 500 accidental shootings a year. There have been an increase in suicides. Instead of looking for the root cause of violence and accidents and mental health problems they springboard to imply that increased gun ownership is the basis.
We aren't surprised that it is full of misinformation, but it includes this important goal.
We have discussed repeatedly that the increased number of new gun owners is an opportunity that we can not ignore. These represent the voters who were neither strongly anti nor strongly pro gun ownership and can either protect or doom the 2A in the face of committed pressure from Antis. As new gun owners who purchased firearms to protect themselves and their families they clearly have decided to shift towards our side of the argument. BUT it is clear by this article that Antis like the author see them as an opportunity to create fear and uncertainty to pull them onto the Anti side and infringe the 2nd.
We need to be prepared to counter articles like this. No real mass shootings aren't up, but gang related shootings are and Antis will use them to make people think strangers are going to show up at schools or malls or restaurants and put us in danger. Yes, mental health is an issue due to all the stress of the past 18 months, but we should be helping each other deal with the stresses instead of disarming people trying to have some control over their safety. Accidental shootings are too common, but not any more common than previous years so citing some hundreds of injuries may be a clear indicator that all the new gun owners take ownership seriously enough that we aren't seeing a statically significant increase in accidental shootings. Regardless we should preach safe ownership for all owners since we want our brothers and sisters and their children to be safe while protecting their safety against crime. New gun owners need all the help they can get to enjoy their new firearms safely and to be effective in using them to keep their families safe so gunowners like us need to volunteer to help them do just that, safely enjoy shooting and safely protect their families...and at the same time help keep the 2A safe from Anti predators like this author intending to prey upon their fears.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/10/responsible-gun-ownership-is-a-lie/619811/
Like all good propaganda pieces it uses truths to spring off of. There have been a huge increase in shootings in 20 an 21 compared to the previous decade. There are about 500 accidental shootings a year. There have been an increase in suicides. Instead of looking for the root cause of violence and accidents and mental health problems they springboard to imply that increased gun ownership is the basis.
We aren't surprised that it is full of misinformation, but it includes this important goal.
We have discussed repeatedly that the increased number of new gun owners is an opportunity that we can not ignore. These represent the voters who were neither strongly anti nor strongly pro gun ownership and can either protect or doom the 2A in the face of committed pressure from Antis. As new gun owners who purchased firearms to protect themselves and their families they clearly have decided to shift towards our side of the argument. BUT it is clear by this article that Antis like the author see them as an opportunity to create fear and uncertainty to pull them onto the Anti side and infringe the 2nd.
We need to be prepared to counter articles like this. No real mass shootings aren't up, but gang related shootings are and Antis will use them to make people think strangers are going to show up at schools or malls or restaurants and put us in danger. Yes, mental health is an issue due to all the stress of the past 18 months, but we should be helping each other deal with the stresses instead of disarming people trying to have some control over their safety. Accidental shootings are too common, but not any more common than previous years so citing some hundreds of injuries may be a clear indicator that all the new gun owners take ownership seriously enough that we aren't seeing a statically significant increase in accidental shootings. Regardless we should preach safe ownership for all owners since we want our brothers and sisters and their children to be safe while protecting their safety against crime. New gun owners need all the help they can get to enjoy their new firearms safely and to be effective in using them to keep their families safe so gunowners like us need to volunteer to help them do just that, safely enjoy shooting and safely protect their families...and at the same time help keep the 2A safe from Anti predators like this author intending to prey upon their fears.
