Soybomb nailed it. Most "antis" aren't necessarily anti-gun, they just don't know anything beyond the irrational alarmist propaganda spouted by other people who also don't really know anything about firearms.
For those of you trying to convert others, keep this in mind: uncovering the truth takes work. Most people don't care enough about guns to research them and their use or define and weigh the pros and cons of firearms in society. They (like many of us with other subjects) are perfectly content to jump to a conclusion and maintain said conclusion because it's what everyone else is doing.
When you try to convert somebody using factoids, statistics, legalities, and whiney-sounding blathering about heritage, rights, and entitlements, you'll make your target simply tune you out. Why? Your arguments are correct, aren't they? Sure, but it doesn't matter. Those types of arguments don't cause your audience to volunteer to move from their current position to consider yours. It's more like you're blasting them with a word ray. For those of you who've taken a speech or writing course, I'm saying that appeals to logic (logos) will fail without coordinated appeals to emotion (pathos) and appeals stemming from your good character (ethos).
So what should you do? You've got to make it real. How? Use specific examples from your own life that genuinely matter to you. Talk about how enjoyable pheasant hunting with your dad used to be. Talk about how much you've learned from messing with your military surplus rifles. Talk about how naked and powerless you felt when you got mugged in your own neighborhood. Stories and parables teach and convince by letting the listener imagine themselves as someone else.
Let's get specific with one of my best examples. I lived in New York for a year, and in order for me to get there, I had to drive from Minnesota. Because I was alone on a long trip, I kept my Colt snubbie loaded and in a water bottle holder right near my seat belt buckler. With my carry permit, it's legal for me to have a loaded gun handy in my car while in Minnesota. So, when I set off, it didn't take long for me to cross the border into Wisconsin, and when I did that, suddenly my loaded and concealed handgun was illegal and I was a criminal. Going through Illinois, I was even more criminal, and by the time I made it to Chicago, I was the scum of the earth. Then I crossed the border into Indiana, and suddenly everything was peachy keen and I was a normal citizen again. When I went through Ohio and Pennsylvania, my handgun was OK, but didn't have permission to carry it in those states. Then, when I made it to New York, not only was I not supposed to carry my handgun, I was supposed to register it (which I never did), and mere ownership was illegal.
After telling people that story, I ask them "What changed? Did I suddenly become a monster worthy of being locked up with violent felons? Look me in the eye and tell me I'm exactly who America should incarcerate."
Even the most anti-seeming Ivy Leaguers who I've told that story to scoff at the sheer absurdity of the laws that condemned me in those "anti" states. And why not? There's nothing they hate more than social injustice.
