6_gunner
Member
I got into a discussion with an acquaintance of mine yesterday; and I thought you folks might be interested to hear about it.
He was talking about how he was critical of Bush for allowing the assault weapons ban to expire. I piped up that I was opposed to the ban, and we got into a discussion about the pros and cons of gun control. He made the typical arguments that “assault weapons” are only useful for killing people and that if the government restricts access to them, then everyone will be safer. I gathered that he was in favor of registering all guns, outlawing calibers that weren’t used for sporting purposes (not sure how he would make the distinction), banning private sales, and imposing a magazine capacity limit. Pretty typical anti- rhetoric, which I countered with the standard pro-gun arguments.
The surprising thing was that this guy is an active hunter and target shooter who was raised around guns! He said that he never really cared either way about “assault weapons” until a friend allowed him to shoot his AR-15. He was so shocked by the rifle’s firepower and accuracy with iron sights (apparently all his rifle shooting had been with scoped guns) that he decided that nobody should be able to own such a terrible thing.
This was my first encounter with a “Fudd.” All the anti-gun people I’d known in the past had been ignorant of guns. I generally hold to the theory that any sane person can be cured of “anti- ism” by a little education and a trip to the range. This guy was the first person I’ve met who was an active gun enthusiast who turned anti- after being exposed to “scary assault weapons.”
I thought I’d see if you folks had any comments, or similar experiences that you’d like to share.
He was talking about how he was critical of Bush for allowing the assault weapons ban to expire. I piped up that I was opposed to the ban, and we got into a discussion about the pros and cons of gun control. He made the typical arguments that “assault weapons” are only useful for killing people and that if the government restricts access to them, then everyone will be safer. I gathered that he was in favor of registering all guns, outlawing calibers that weren’t used for sporting purposes (not sure how he would make the distinction), banning private sales, and imposing a magazine capacity limit. Pretty typical anti- rhetoric, which I countered with the standard pro-gun arguments.
The surprising thing was that this guy is an active hunter and target shooter who was raised around guns! He said that he never really cared either way about “assault weapons” until a friend allowed him to shoot his AR-15. He was so shocked by the rifle’s firepower and accuracy with iron sights (apparently all his rifle shooting had been with scoped guns) that he decided that nobody should be able to own such a terrible thing.
This was my first encounter with a “Fudd.” All the anti-gun people I’d known in the past had been ignorant of guns. I generally hold to the theory that any sane person can be cured of “anti- ism” by a little education and a trip to the range. This guy was the first person I’ve met who was an active gun enthusiast who turned anti- after being exposed to “scary assault weapons.”
I thought I’d see if you folks had any comments, or similar experiences that you’d like to share.
maybe he won't have such a naive view of personal sporting rifles.
