Oleg Volk said:
Point #4 is the one I work on maybe more than any other -- with the refinement that I don't think "more beneficial than borrowing or renting" is the real issue. "More beneficial than not owning" is the issue. "Less risky than not owning" is another big issue. If you can show them that owning a gun has a very low risk and a high benefit, they'll own a gun. If you can't, they won't.
Personally, I'm all about safety, and getting newcomers to understand their own responsibility if they decide to own a gun. When I preach the safety message, I preach it for several reasons. One reason, of course, is simply because I want the people who hear about gun ownership from me to be unharmed by anything I've told them. I take my responsibility as an instructor very very very seriously, a moral imperative not to do them any harm. But another reason for preaching safety as much as I do is because I want to imprint upon them that other gun owners care about safety. I don't want people walking away from a class I've helped with, or from an article I've written, thinking that gun ownership is okay for them, but too dangerous for others. I want them walking away with the impression that we're all like this, that safety is important to all of us.
It's easy for an experienced gun owner to forget how much gun-fear is out there, or to recognize how legitimate a lot of that fear is. Guns are dangerous! They can be used, purposely or accidentally, to kill innocent human beings! So it is perfectly legitimate to wonder how you can safely store a firearm in a home with children, or how you can keep firearms away from your really clueless relatives when they come to visit, or to wonder if it's possible to carry a gun without becoming callous and indifferent to human life. Those are very reasonable concerns, and deserve a better answer than, "The Constitution says --!" or "Well, it's my right." Of course it's your right! But that does not address the reasonable concerns non-gun folks actually have, or answer the legitimate questions they ask.
Answering those kind of questions, and making those answers accessible to as many people as possible -- that's my goal.
pax
It is imperative that we must bring women into the fold. They are THE key. I know many men that start their sentences with “I would but my wife…” I know some guys use that as an excuse, but more often than not it is a valid one. Mothers also need to be convinced that it is ok for the children (next generation of shooters) to shoot. Traditionally, hunting was the avenue that leads to RKBA via father and son. Hunting is on the decline and there are many single parent (mostly women) households. The best thing would be to have mom and child shoot together as a family. I think gun clubs that offer turkey shoots or family/team competitions would go a long way to help increase a positive firearm profile. Lastly, to get more women involved means parents should be taking their daughters shooting. Few things make me happier than seeing a father and his daughter or son shooting together. I can’t wait until mine is old enough to go with me.
