What's with the Zombie Craze?

[jeffmack]

When people start talking about zombies, especially with non-gunners who aren't used to the context, they risk sounding like they are out of touch with reality, and maybe mentally ill.

 

[BeerSleeper]

Personally, I find the zombie stuff mildly entertaining. I print my targets from pdfs on websites. I've printed a few zombie targets, and a few Osama targets, but mostly just the basic crosshairs stuff.

As pertaining to the 2A, and RKBA, I don't think it looks good. There's a certain silliness and irresponsibility inherent in preparing for the "zombie apocalypse." I'm sure most of us doing anything "zombie" do it tongue-in-cheek, knowing it's not serious, but those out in cause against the 2A are not above intentionally misconstruing this. These people are out to find anything to make gun owners look bad. In no way, shape, or form do they care if there information is accurate, or fact. They only care if it is something that can be spun into believable propaganda.

 

[oldbear]

I got bored after the first 25 responses so if someone has already posted my thoughts

Should we be trying to stop it or is it harmless?

Should we as gun owners be telling vendors to cut this out or is it harmless? Does it hurt our cause?

I don’t give a tinkers damn if it’s harmless or not, but I do care that it make most of us look like uneducated bumbling fools.

 

[Nushif]

This I think is the biggest thing to talk about here, in the context of this discussion:

If we can keep the zombie thing on the light hearted side of things and enjoy it, it can help our sport be more inclusive with the greater middle majority. IMHO

If we go by the standard that the moment we include a gun, all fantasy is off, I am afraid not many people in NY can own hunting rifles, because realistically there are no deer there.
We can't have people spouting the black helicopter stuff anymore and own e-bil black rifles, because realistically it is simply untrue ...
Eliminate lever actions as well, as there are no more Injuns to shoot, you name it.

The whole zombie thing is based on a simple premise:
"If you're prepared for zombies, you're prepared for anything."

And Zombies are about as likely as five ex-Marines with a full set of flak vests and AR types breaking into your door high on crack, PCP and angel dust to steal your XBo- .... Radio.

IT's a different flavor preparedeness, don't overthink this, don't be a Debbie Downer. And please, people. Taking the highroad means entertaining a notion you don't agree with, as well. I let people fantasize about overthrowing the President, black helicopters, Marine Swat teams who steal cookies, shooting at steel silhouette cowboys, dressing up as 1930 gangsters and running around in Blackwater hats with darker parkerized Mossbergs. That doesn't mean I am taking them seriously.
What I do however do is cheer them on because I know that a little bit of fantasy has never hurt anyone. Hells, I can see it being fun shooting in a Cowboy Action setting. And USPA sound like a blast, too! As a matter of fact, I'd love to play 1930's explorer with a nice Enfield and Lee-Webley.
Stop being such fuds, folks.

[edit]
Look at this! Some people are daring to have fun in a way you don't agree with and we're calling them uneducated, a danger to our cause, mentally unstable ... and that's just on page three. Way to stay classy.
[/edit]

 

[Old krow]

Law abiding gun owners have turned a corner it seems, both in legislative progress and in the attitudes of most citizens. Does this move us backwards?

Maybe. I think that it's difficult to tell without knowing if some of the new gun owners that joined the ranks did so because of the zombie craze. It will give the antis some new fodder and probably make us seem irresponsible and immature. They were going to cry regardless though.

I'm not sure about the issues of "preparedness" and how the CDC used the zombie outbreak to gain attention toward preparation for "any" disaster. I find it difficult to believe that someone that didn't feel it necessary to prepare before did so because the CDC is using the zombie apocalypse to advertise their position. People live on the Gulf Coast and do not prepare for hurricanes, and even in the Wake of recent storms some still don't. I don't see the "zombie thing" doing much to change that, so I remain somewhat skeptical about its effectiveness.

 

[shiftyer1]

It wasn't very long ago that people were having the same zombie discussions but at the time I believe it was the commies that were coming. People got bored with commies and moved on to zombies.

Good or bad? I don't know.

 

[mgmorden]

Its just like the CB radio trucker craze of the mid 70's . After it runs its course folks will be embarrassed to admit they fell for the fad

Let it run it'll run itself out of go faster than a Jimmy suicide jockey. 10-4

I kinda doubt it at this point. The zombie genre has been building steam for decades. The original "Night of the Living Dead" (which basically was the start of it - Romero really is the father of the Zombie genre) came out in 1968. Zombie movies have been coming out ever since. I was born in 1981 and I can remember watching tons of them for as long as I can remember. Now, certainly, I'm sure EVENTUALLY as a cultural phenomenon it will run its course and expire, but it's not exactly a "fad". People have been having fun with zombies for nearly 50 years now.

 

[jeepnik]

Ssshhhh! Here's the truth, "zombie" is code for members of a large national organization that wants to disarm you so you can't kill the "zombies".

 

[JayBird]

I don’t give a tinkers damn if it’s harmless or not, but I do care that it make most of us look like uneducated bumbling fools.

K....and some would say that Civil War reenactors make gun owners look like people stuck in the past and those that play on the confederate side are portraying us as being in support of slavery.

Some would say Cowboy reenactments portray gun owners in a way that would make us unsympathetic to Native Americans.

There are alot of things that typically get lumped into the generic pro-gun movement that some could try to label us in a derogatory light with.

Note: The views expressed above are merely examples. And I am not one that goes around talking about Zombies either.

 

[Cluster Bomb]

How is buying a gun/ammo/etc with zombie art or geared towards it any diffrent than

Western guns and movies. Having the whole outfit etc.

or video games like COD, BF, and movies of the like.

Ive seen many people buy a gun like Dirty Hairrys, and a gun like the P90 on MW2 or the Barret 50 look a likes.

It is all a gimmick. Just like other things. People pay more $ for a "zombie" round that is no different than a normal federal round.

I think it is good, in a way. That it brings more potential gun buyers, users, and lovers. Wich will increase the gun owner %.

I ignore all the zombie hype. Except the zombie targets. The wife enjoys shooting zombies over some mullet guy with a gun, or some guy with a knife to a girls neck....etc etc.

there are Prion Disease that i read somewhere that there are strands that can make humans act similar to zombies. (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/prions/) how ever for some reason i can not reproduce the artical on the CDC site.

 

[darrell walling]

zombies

The craze has hit your locale colleges all the students pick sides and then hunt each other using nurf guns from what ive seen . must be a study related release. dont know the future shooter efect but they seem to have fun

 

[Sam Cade]

I was born in 1981 and I can remember watching tons of them for as long as I can remember. Now, certainly, I'm sure EVENTUALLY as a cultural phenomenon it will run its course and expire, but it's not exactly a "fad" People have been having fun with zombies for nearly 50 years now.

Way longer than that. "White Zombie" came out in 1932 and a steady stream of Zombie themed movies followed.

The modern "shambling" zombie in a post-apocalyptic scenario has been part of our media consciousness since the '30s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things_to_Come

 

[Sam Cade]

that it makes us look immature and the antis will make fun of us. It should be clear by this time that the antis will despise us regardless of whether we're dressing up as cowboys, zombie hunters or in conservative attire.

At least the zombie hunters get to wear sensible footwear.

 

[buddyemily]

It's because of the zombies in the whole OWS thingy.

OWS thingy? The whole "zombie craze" is a mystery to me too.

 

[btg3]

Perhaps there are 2 types of zombie enthusiasts... those that go along for the fun and those that are in [too] deep. I don't care for the theme in the least, but will not argue the point that it does give RKBA more visibility and public discourse than it might have otherwise.

 

[Black Butte]

Don't let zombies catch you unprepared.

 

[Cdigman]

As populations increase, and land suitable for hunting decrease, the numbers of those who were introduced to the world of the shooting sports through hunting will dwindle, and more and more, it will be the "Zombie Apocalypse" and "Call of Duty" generations that will be supporting the right to keep and bear arms in the future. Guess what? At the local gun shows, "evil black rifles" outnumber hunting weapons probably 10 to 1. Just yesterday I saw a Bushmaster M4 Patrol Carbine with a bayonet lug, and 30 round mag in the display case at WALMART.

 

[HammerheadSSN663]

It started for me back in 1979 after watching Dawn of the Dead.

I've hated zombies ever since.

 

[hso]

It is just marketing.
Take a popular theme and wear it completely out to the absurd expression.
We're a little late to the party, but some folks are trying to make a buck while having a few yuks.
We've replaced shooting at silhouet targets with something a little more pop culture is all.
Is it a negative? Is plinking cans and plastic bottles somehow more positive than punching paper with zombie cartoons in place of the standard silhouette?
C'mon, are we that stuffy and overly serious?

As to the "zombie apocalypse" discussions, they're just thinly veiled substitute discussions of shooting other people indiscriminately and do not have any place in responsible firearms discussions.

 

[HorseSoldier]

Way longer than that. "White Zombie" came out in 1932 and a steady stream of Zombie themed movies followed.

The modern "shambling" zombie in a post-apocalyptic scenario has been part of our media consciousness since the '30s

I'm not sure how much of a cultural meme zombies were back then -- I suspect that the Hollywood classics of Frankenstein and Dracula would resonate more with Americans from the 30's. Once you get Night of the Living Dead and its myriad and varied offspring starting in the 70s (late 60s?) is when I think you get the cultural phenomena of zombies, and especially the zombie apocalypses where a plague of the undead has taken over the world except for isolated survivors, etc.

Nowadays you have a couple generations of Americans (and Europeans) who've come up in a world where zombies are a slate-wiping apocalypse myth -- whether people love guns, hate them, or could care less about that dimension of zombie what-if scenarios, everyone with access to TV, movies, and the internet since Romero got up and running knows the basic outlines of the story/scenario.

It only stands to reason that some gun owners are interested/intrigued by discussing zombie scenarios, since they all know the basic mythology, and it is likewise obvious that anyone who was really obsessive about zombie apocalyptic mythology would have an interest in weapons (and other trappings) of the storyline.

 

[velojym]

Zombies are a metaphor for any life threatening emergency, especially the wide-scale ones. While I don't know anyone who actually *defends* the right to own and carry firearms with a "zombie defense", guns are frequently discussed anyway.
The best way to approach this is with tongue firmly in cheek, and the zombies can be a sort of litmus test to determine whether a person can handle the sort of macabre sense of humor that may be the only thing that keeps some of us alive during trying times.
www.zombiehunters.org is such a bunch of folks, and quite a few chapters of Zombie Squad are actively involved in various charity efforts, trail cleanups, etc.

 

[HorseSoldier]

I'd actually rate the lunatic fringe of the zombie defense subculture as less creepy than the lunatic fringe of the UFO/alien subculture, though those guys seem to have faded from the scene from back in the X Files days. Maybe it's just that the zombie defenders don't have that freaky sex thing going on like the UFO-ologists, but I think it's more like was mentioned, "zombie prep" can carry over to Katrina prep, riot prep, etc, so it doesn't seem purely insane the way tinfoil hats do even if the people doing it absolutely and 100% literal in their intention to be ready to fight zombies (and frankly I don't think many people who talk zombie defense are into it as anything more than an abstract mental exercise).

 

[valnar]

It is not politically correct for law abiding citizens to talk about "which gun is best for killing a human?". Using zombies as a metaphor makes it more palatable. However, when you think about it, we have no problem talking about which calibers are ideal for self-defense. Isn't it the same thing?

The difference is we get to bring in long arms and military weapons into the equation, not just shotguns or pistols.

But I'm probably thinking too hard. There is no reason why gun owners should 'own the zombie craze', any more than gun owners should own the paintball or lasertag craze. It is deeply rooted in the Sci-Fi and Gore pop culture genre, not real life. None of us had problems with the Terminator or Die Hard movies, or any movie that has guns. There is no reason why we should be embarrassed or associated with this either. By acknowledging it, we associate ourselves to it.

 

[khegglie]

Thread....still.............alive.....

 

[ultradoc]

I was watching the t.v. show Guns and Gear and the kid on the show said something to the effect that this gun is nice for killing zombies. Then another t.v. show asked the question who would win? A zombie or a vampire. Good grief. This is getting stupid people.