If anything, I'm a portrait of something all the pro-gunners want: a functional, normal, intelligent person who makes firearms a normal, non-sensational part of his life.
Interesting post. I see your point on a lot of issues. However, I don't think being pro-gun necessarily means that you fit the stereotype of being a white Christian male Republican who is anti- everything else you mentioned. I certainly don't fit that stereotype, either. To be honest, I agree with most with the Libertarians, and I'd love to see a Libertarian President and Congress. I think government should be small and stay out of our lives. Live and let live. When I looked at the profiles of the Libertarians running locally, it was no surprise that they were all highly educated like you and like myself.
I totally agree with making firearms a normal, non-sensational part of life, and I always was "in a submarine", as you mentioned, in my youth. However, every time I've ever mentioned firearms in my professional circle, people immediately react as though I'm some sort of wacko until I explain in a calm & educated manner that firearms are not the root of all evil. For example, somehow firearms came up at work one day, and a guy I work with mentioned that he wants to buy a pistol. I told him about my pistol, and we started talking about guns.
Long story short, we're going shooting together, and he thought we should invite the rest of our co-workers. So we did, and most of them initially gave no response to the invitation. I inquired as to why, and most were afraid of guns. After explaining that gun safety is a huge priority of mine and of every responsible firearm owner, I got several more people to agree to come.
Several people who were completely freaked out by the concept of guns are now "maybe" coming to the range. We'll see how many actually do come, but if I can convert even a few of them from totally fearing guns to actually feeling comfortable and maybe even enjoying shooting them, then I'll feel pretty good about that.
It's amazing how programmed to fear guns these highly educated people are. One of them kept speaking of his fear that guns "just go off" and was afraid somehow we'd shoot each other at the range. Another guy said, "You can't honestly tell me that if we made it really hard for someone to get a handgun that crime wouldn't go down." This guy hunts and owns shotguns, but blames violence on handguns and supports more regulations on handguns. I couldn't
not explain to him the reality of things.
How do you stay in your submarine at that point? How do you let someone so clearly ignorant continue thinking something that is erroneous? If this were a religious matter, I'd agree with you completely. What a person chooses to believe is his or her own private business, and I can't tell someone what is "right" and what is "wrong". There is no clear answer as it's all faith-based no matter what you do or don't believe.
However, firearms are a clear black & white issue to me. The Second Amendment is in plain English that is unmistakeable in meaning. This isn't about religious zealotry or preaching morals... this is about basic human rights to defend oneself. You clearly support IIA in your keeping and bearing of arms. This right does not force anyone to do anything they don't want to do. It's a right, not a decree that everyone will own and carry firearms. You seem to support more rights and fewer restrictions. What if you grew up with anti-gun parents in an anti-gun environment (as higher education typically is)? How would you ever get exposure to firearms to become comfortable with them if everyone stayed in their submarines?
I find that a lot of highly educated people are afraid to speak their minds b/c in general to successfully climb the educational & professional ladder, you need to be able to quietly go through the ocean of BS in your submarine without making too many waves. This, unfortunately, breeds passive people. I was raised that way, but now I'm not that way.
I find the higher I go up the educational & professional ladder, the more active and less passive I become b/c there are fewer people above me whose BS I have to put up with. I find that the unpleasantries at this level are surprising, and I find that being at that high level it is my responsibility to
not be passive. Frankly, the passiveness of some of these higher-ups is shocking to me. The things they allow to go on by being passive really are disheartening. It surprises me that you haven't found the same thing at whatever high educational level you have achieved.