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The real problem is that many won't make the effort to expand their abilities. They just give in to their rising levels of frustration and shake the dust off their feet.
There is a time and place to do that, but it's not that time or place across the board on many of the issues. What we are seeing is exactly that on both sides. An attitude is copped that the "others" are brain dead ignorant and can't see Truth if it hit them between the eyes.
In reality, men always strive against each other, it's just one huge monkey dance to see who's the top dog. We argue internally about if we are even winning or losing in this thread, we argue whether we should even bother talking to "them," we argue whether a company should move out or stay in their home town. If we can't even agree on it or whether the M16 eats where it poops, how then will we be able to convince others they aren't right about wanting all firearms confiscated and destroyed?
You have to exercise the skill to improve it. There's really no way to add a good scope and zero in more precisely, it's not a hardware oriented kind of thing. It's a SOCIAL skill, which is why so many shooters get easily frustrated. They don't have those skills, don't like those that do, and don't want to have much to do with them - even fellow 2A fans.
That's normal for any group of men focused on the technology, not the interaction. Racers are the same - it's about the car. Show car builders are different, it's about the impact on the public and eliciting their reaction, it's about the social aspect. The basic fact they can't drive it on the street isn't anything they worry about, where the racer focuses solely on the performance aspect. Shooters do the same - some focus on the performance, some on the aesthetics. A Service Rifle match has a consistently different view of firearms vs a group bidding for engraved Belgain Browning shotguns.
If you or I won't make the effort to communicate with others in a polite, restrained, and informative way, then we either shut up and leave it to others who can, or contribute to being the Fred Phelps of the gun owner's association. And like it or not, consistently pointed out as being the average, the normal kind of gun user, which is how the antigunners like to slant the game. Pick the worst examples, focus on them, talk about them as if that's what we are ALL like.
It's an easy thing to do - antigunners make noises like, "a gun rally is no different than Westboro Baptist members demonstrating." And tossing rotten tomatoes never seemed to deter them. They were convinced they were right. In that specific situation, there is guidance as written, and it is NOT to keep tossing rotten tomatoes, or shunning them. Their may be that time, but who are any of us to give up so quickly when we see others who've done more for us?
But, if your Mom or Dad broke it up, that example may not exist for you. Keep looking, it's there nonetheless. A coach, teacher, someone who put up with us long after we deserved any attention. And if we really get honest, we can think of plenty of times we pushed things even further to make them prove they wouldn't walk away.
We have to do the same, we are the example of exactly why. We need to be long suffering, patient, and continue to work to get an understanding across. When it comes down to the basic issues, what we really disagree with antigunners on is the method - not the goal. We both want a quiet peaceful life with no stress. We just understand we need to do it protecting ourselves from the wolves, they don't see we ARE protecting them from the wolves. When they finally have to do it on their own, they gain more understanding.
We don't need to look like the wolves to do it, but we need to understand that they don't like anything that does and lump us all together. I know it's the sheep dog cliche, but it goes to the point - they hate guns because they feel as if any gunbearer is a threat. They can't or won't separate the two, they can't or won't (ironically) parse the nuance. For some, it's just attempting to gain more power, and an enemy is simply a tool to play against others who won't comply, to draw them in.
We aren't losing, we still have guns. Laws or not, many of us will continue to have them, regardless of what popular opinion and playing to the electorate bring about.
Bravo!
Well said, especially "When it comes down to the basic issues, what we really disagree with antigunners on is the method - not the goal. We both want a quiet peaceful life with no stress. We just understand we need to do it protecting ourselves from the wolves, they don't see we ARE protecting them from the wolves. When they finally have to do it on their own, they gain more understanding. We don't need to look like the wolves to do it, but we need to understand that they don't like anything that does and lump us all together. I know it's the sheep dog cliche, but it goes to the point - they hate guns because they feel as if any gunbearer is a threat. They can't or won't separate the two, they can't or won't (ironically) parse the nuance."
Nuance. A concept we really need to help our allies understand and help anti-gun people understand.