Gun Ownership and Social Stigma?

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I am more paranoid - sorry, I meant concerned ;) - about being targeted for theft than any social stigma. (Having been burgled and guns stolen - and by the neighbors, too :mad: - I have some basis in fact for this belief.) I am already a bit of an outcast to start with, so who cares. :evil:
 
JustinJ said:
"For what it's worth, I've personally been called a terrorist on two separate occasions in my own home because I was cleaning my guns. I live in Texas. And this is just in the past year."

Please elaborate.
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I go to school in Austin and just got back from a long day at the range on both occasions. I always prefer to clean my guns as soon as I'm home if I can help it. I usually leave my door open cus...I guess I'm just an amiable guy. At the time, I had one female housemate and one male housemate.

The first time, I was sitting there watching some videos on youtube and scrubbing away at my AR. The girl housemate got home with a handful of girls, all of which I've met before and they came over to say hi. Then one of them got all wide-eyed and shocked "Why do you have a gun?!?" etc. etc. Then came the terrorist remark.

The second time, was a girl that my guy housemate was chasing after. To describe her in one word: vegan. I did not approve. I got nothing against veg heads, in fact the girl housemate was one and so was my roommate the year before. I support their way of life because it saves more bacon for me! However, this girl was vegan in every stereotypical way possible. It also didn't help that I was in the middle of prepping for my deer hunt the next day...Anyways she started saying how eating meat was not sustainable blah blah blah even though she has to take supplements just to stay alive. Back on topic though, you can imagine how that evening went over. I felt like terrorist Jesus, getting crucified for everything bad in the world. Sorry if that's offensive to anyone. I do not mean it that way. She ran upstairs when it was clear that her only argument was that she could survive on marijuana alone and I shut my door for the rest of the night.
 
Even in the deep south, there are pockets of the population who do not agree with your right to keep and bear arms. Mostly they are fresh from New York, New Jersey, or California. The pockets of these ignorant people are all in the bigger cities. In my state, that's Atlanta.

If these people leave a major city down here and start their anti-gun rants, they'll just get quizzical stares from the locals. My buddy (who had the lady start ranting about how she could call the cops and have his children taken from him) reportedly just commented about how she was very mistaken about the laws in Georgia and that she should check her anti-social behavior at the door before entering his home in the future.
 
I am wondering where this culture of (dare I say?) paranoia is coming from. I can understand it in NYC, Detroit and the like,
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I see no paranoia in Detroit. What I see is less fear now than I did before Michigan became shall issue. Nearly every college class I teach has a couple of young ladies who have their CCW/CPLs. Just today I e-mailed information to one who requested it in class.
 
There's the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Anyone around here knows you even hunt (and therefore probably own a gun), they are likely to ask you if your guns are secured--a question I applaud--or perhaps even more likely to just assume that any house with a gun in it is unsafe. No play dates.

So, my kids go play over there. :evil: Perhaps I should ask about white plastic buckets? :uhoh::rolleyes:
 
+1 on the "don't advertise to thieves" choice. I'm not overly concerned about theft where I live but see no reason to advertise. You just never know where the info will wind up. Just seems like it makes your house a juicy target.

My main hobby is RC model sailplanes and I have a nice 6 x 12 enclosed trailer to carry everything to the field. My friends have the outside of their trailers adorned with pictures of airplanes, manufacturers logos and such, mine is simple white with no advertising. Theirs have gotten broken into or the whole trailer stolen. No one pays attention to mine. Same thing with Harley D carriers and even landscaping trailers.
 
Rusty Shackleford said:
I think it's mainly because some of the antis are so crazy about it. I heard of one woman who was completely convinced that you had to have a license in Georgia to even buy any kind of gun (not true, even for pistols), and threatened to call the police and have this guy's kids taken from him. This happened to a friend of mine in his own home.

These random and (hopefully) rare events keep most of us wishing to stay private about it... at least until someone we know admits to owning a couple of firearms themselves, then it's all we want to talk about.

Edit: She also insisted that they all had to be registered or he would go to prison... Good thing there is no gun registration at all in Georgia. Even if you wanted to, it simply doesn't exist. That is how badly this lady was misinformed.
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She must be one of those bad transplants we have been getting in the South the past 25 years. If she from Ill, NY or NJ I would not be shocked by her ignorance.
 
I can see, of sorts, as to how you would feel there is a social stigma related to being a gun owner. With ALL the anti-gun persons shouting from every tall building and slapping everything negative possible about firearms/guns into whatever print, voice, and visual media available to them. They, the anti-gun people are in some cases, distorting the facts or events in such a way that even being as cynical I am, almost makes me believe them.

Thinking it over though, about the only real negativity I can recall was a time or two in San Francisco area. Even though I was stationed at Alameda NAS at the time and almost obviously a sailor, it was almost always a negative to admit to owning a personal sidearm. Except, of course, to other military personnel. And yes, I too have lived in various locales such as Cleveland, Denver area, Jacksonville Fla, Dallas and surrounding cities as well as East Texas and Houston briefly. Too muggy down there. As well as traveled east to west and north to south multiple times.

I guess it must be the sort of people I attract or something 'cause I've never really had a problem with it personally. Or maybe the fact that I just really don't care what other people think of it. I think that is just one of the reasons for my life membership with the N.R.A. and my practice of trying to get or help young'ns get involved with shooting. And some not so young as well.

Information as well as education and safety training can be enlightening to the uninformed.
 
I also have spent the last several years in a college town and will be going back for graduate school.
My apartment frequently has guns in the corner, shooting stuff such as musket ball and flints or ammunition on the coffee table, stuff like that. Most of my friends know I carry and sort of "remind" me if we're going to a secluded wooded area. I've taught half a dozen people, mostly young women, to shoot. Everyone got a kick out of the disintegrating link belt of dummy 7.62 Nato rounds I had on top of the entertainment center and was fascinated by how it worked.
I've only had one negative response - real paranoia - from one person. I've seen some fear, but that gets taken care of after a trip to the local range with the 10/22.

If there is a stigma attached to my gun ownership, it's not a bad one.

And FWIW, a little sharp logic will often shut the closet anti's up.
One classmate, a decent enough guy but harboring some anti-gun paranoia, commented to me about how he was concerned that the campus police now had "machine guns" (semi-auto M-4 carbines) in their patrol cars. "Just what we need on campus... trigger-happy cops with machine guns!" was his reaction to this.
My response: "Well, I imagine you'd sing a different tune if some lunatic wandered into this classroom with a Kalashnikov and opened fire on us."
I'm pretty sure no one other than me knew what a Kalashnikov is. Still, half the class smirked to themselves and the other half stayed out of it, but no one else joined in.
 
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A pair of guys doing a semi-annual air conditioner inspection recognized the reloading gear. Did not know that my wife had them scheduled to visit that day.

I figured, oh well (too late to cover with a sheet)...and told him that I have an old surplus British rifle.

The last thing guys should do is admit to having a handgun, which is a much hotter target.
All of my guns are rifles, mostly bolt-action, and none of them are the glamorous types. Luckily No houses have been burglarized in this area.
 
goon said:
My response: "Well, I imagine you'd sing a different tune if some lunatic wandered into this classroom with a Kalashnikov and opened fire on us."
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How appropriate. This is almost exactly what actually happened to us this last year. The police didn't even need to use their "machine guns" and we were singing their praises.
 
The anti-gun crowd and media have done a number on the perception a lot of people have about guns.

Just to show you how messed up some people are, I'll relate a little story. I have a friend who is concerned about an acquaintance "going crazy" with a gun and killing them in their own home. After reviewing the facts, I agree that it is very possible that this slightly unhinged person might get busy with a gun and kill them all. So, are they doing the responsible thing and arming themselves? Nope. They "...don't believe in guns..."

When I get my concealed carry permit, I will be carrying while at their home. If that nut shows up, I'll be able to defend the lives of those fools who choose to disarm themselves.

I have absolutely no respect for a man who chooses to remain unarmed in these increasingly desperate times. For the love of God, you must arm yourselves.
 
Ok, to elaborate on my earlier comment 'they don't need to know'

I do perceive some negative social stigma attached to the ownership and use of guns. So when I make a new acquaintance I prefer to withhold any personal information that might be used to form an incorrect opinion or snap judgment about me. That includes many personal things, not just this hobby.

And so I have had the benefit of getting to know people without a stigma in the way which allowed me to become a positive +gun influence to them when they might have dismissed me instead.

If shooting does come up in mixed company I will talk about IDPA matches. It seems that organized shooting sports are more acceptable and don't conjure up so many negatives among the -gun crowd.
 
I hope this isn't too off topic.

I used to work in a furniture store in Houston Texas. We sold lots of cheap ( about $150 retail back then ) gun display cabinets. No real security at all!! Cheap plate glass and locks you could jimmy open with a butter knife!!! Yet we sold lots of them. No social stigma there.

One of my coworkers remarked once that he had one of these cabinets. It was full of junk guns that would not work and only cost about $5 apiece. He used it as a decoy and kept his really good stuff hidden elsewhere in case he got burgled! Not a bad idea.
 
If I talk about a gun with someone I always say "a friend of mine has" or " I've shot _____ once". No one knows that way.
 
from personal experience......ive found that that stigma disappears as soon as you allow it to....

i talk about guns freely.......like people talk about movies, baseball, cars.......

people ask what i like to do/ what my hobbies are......usually reply with something that boils down to "...shooting / guns...".......

you would be surprised at the number of people who are also interested in shooting......nearly everyone that ive brought it up with has responded positively....


now i go to school in a pretty liberal city.....and im amazed at how many people i overhear talking about guns and shooting......its at least several times a week......and its actual gun discussion too.... not "yo' man, dat fo-tay is smokin, when i get paid imma get me a gat and be strapped full time"......or "the m14 in COD is far more effective than any other weapons platform than in any other game"


i guess everyone thinks there is some stigma about guns, and you cant talk about them or everyone will think you are a crazed nut job.......so no one talks about guns......furthering a stigma which doesnt exist.
 
Social stigma....I just flat out don't care.
I don't go to any extreme one way or the other regarding my guns.
I'll admit to having some concerns about theft but really no more
so than I do about the many dollars of tools in my garage.
Close friends and family know I carry and also know I'm not
concerned what they think about it. It is what it is.......
Dave
 
You do know the Oregon State University has an oragnized pistol team? http://people.oregonstate.edu/studentgroups/pistol/pistol-team

They have a rifle team too. Been that way for years and years (I left Oregon in '63) That is one of the reason Corvalus in pretty gun friendly. The other is it is Oregon. UO and Eugene is much worse than OSU.

As for social stigma? Na, give that back to them, make those that want to give a stigma to firearms owners, users, just give it back. Make them feel out of place. Ask them if they are from NYC or some other anti freedom place.
 
hermannr said:
You do know the Oregon State University has an oragnized pistol team? http://people.oregonstate.edu/studentgroups/pistol/pistol-team

They have a rifle team too. Been that way for years and years (I left Oregon in '63) That is one of the reason Corvalus in pretty gun friendly. The other is it is Oregon. UO and Eugene is much worse than OSU.

As for social stigma? Na, give that back to them, make those that want to give a stigma to firearms owners, users, just give it back. Make them feel out of place. Ask them if they are from NYC or some other anti freedom place.
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I agree 100%. And, truth be told, they are the ones out of place with reality.
 
I live in a part of Illinois where nobody would bother to think twice about what or how many guns one owns.

The majority of the state is like that.

Just a few commie/socialist occupied areas have issues.
 
No social stigma here, but I do worry whenever men come over to fix the cable, air conditioning, etc. I don't hide, but I don't advertise, either. Only two items have a higher street value than they do on the normal market: drugs and guns. If I get any comment about my reloading supplies or safe, the next comment is always about being a competitive shooter, and that my wife shoots, too.

A friend at work knew someone who was killed when he entered the wrong house after a night of hard drinking. My thinking is that the guy walked into the wrong house. His thinking is that someone should not have had a weapon to kill with, or should have waited to see Drunk Guy's intentions. When the tornadoes of 27 April hit, I was glad I didn't have that guy's philosophy, as having weapons during the 7 day power outage was comforting.
 
I get some stigma for owning a gun. Once people heard about the Evil Black Rifle AK that can penetrate car bodies and fire once every .6 seconds, they seemed to be a bit convinced that I was a nutjob looking for an excuse to commit homicide. Of course, these are NJ, NY, MD, and MA college kids from high income families who have never even seen a real gun being used before, it makes sense. Also, because we're all about to be living together on a college campus, they think that I'm the most likely one to go on a VTech spree. College+Guns=Stigma. I actively hide my gun nut aspects. Funnily enough, I had one person tell me that instead of being a regular shooter, I should take up cars as my hobby, because cars are obviously much safer than guns. That explains why my life has been in danger several times due to cars but only once endangered thanks to a firearm.
 
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