Which kind of gun owner are you?

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Which kind of gun owner are you?

By Steven Loos/kotoc

Having spent a fair amount of my impressionable years shooting alongside my WW2 veteran grandfather, I was fortunate to have been taught early on the great responsibility that owning a firearm brings.

As far back as I can recall I have always understood owning a firearm had a deeper meaning. Later in life, and much to my surprise, I would come to understand that not all owners share this belief.

During Ohioans' struggle to pass common-sense concealed carry legislation, I had the good fortune to join in the fight as a volunteer. While continuing the good work of defending the Second Amendment alongside incredibly dedicated activists, I have interacted with many firearm owners.

Gun owners come from all walks of life. We may be politician, police officer or plumber. Statistically we are the most law-abiding segment of society. Interestingly, among the gun owning public, I've encountered three distinct kinds of gun owners. Although there are variations in each subset, what follows is in my opinion the general categories that most gun owners fall into:

The Casual Gun Owner
The Belligerent Gun Owner
The Dedicated Defender of Gun Rights

For the full story, explanation of each category and more info on guns rights please visit

http://buckeyefirearms.org/node/6641
 
Good read. Thanks.

If there's one good thing about gun owners recently, it seems the election has woke us up. The divisions between the black rifle, blued & pretty wood, and absolutists has started to blur, with a shift towards the absolutist point of view.
 
Thanks for the kind words TR! We Buckeyes do our best. I hoped the article would stir some conversation among gun owners and maybe get a few couch warmers involved with the 2A fight..

Ben, I pray you're correct, I've seen some evidence of this trend of gun owners coming together and hope it continues. Thanks for reading my article.
 
Lots of casual shooters who just don't believe there is anything to worry about, even when they hear it on the tube over and over. The enemy is at the gate, and the hinges are straining. Freedom lies in the balance. Most folks don't believe that, and will just be surprised one day, should we lose, when it gets to them and their stuff.
 
...the Casual Gun Owner looks upon the firearm as simply a tool or object they own, not unlike a motorcycle...
Click to expand...

LOL...whoever wrote that hasn't spent any time around motorcyclists. Look at it this way... they own a means of transportation they KNOW is 25 times more likely to get them killed than a car, and which is fairly impractical (hard to carry your groceries, no rain protection, etc.)... and if you try to take it away they'll fight you just as hard as any gun owner. Not a casual possession.

I'm not sure I agree with the..umm... trichotomy... presented either. I guess it is useful? It presents us with three choices, apathetic, antisocial, and good, and basically says "be good." The problem is, all three are in their way doing what they consider to be good. They wouldn't be doing it otherwise. The belligerent (though in the examples he sounds more over-enthusiastic, trying to share advice the recipient doesn't want to hear) is doing because she thinks what you consider belligerent is actually helpful. The apathetic (who in the article may actually hide his gun ownership) is also doing what they consider good. Maybe they actually disagree about general gun rights, maybe they consider the non-hunting uses of weapons to be morally wrong...none of those points of view are addressed -- yet just about every "what gun control laws do you support" thread here on THR shows that 70% or more of THR members support fairly strict restrictions on 2A rights (no felons, controls on weapon types, et cetera).

If you are going to categorize, the categories need to add insight and help to inform a course of action. Just about everyone reading it needs to come away with the desire and ability to improve. For the "belligerent" people who are trying but are maybe causing harm (from your point of view ... they may think the same about you of course) you should have arguments about what would be better and WHY. For the people on the sidelines you need to convince them, win their hearts and minds, because the problem isn't that they are generally apathetic, it's that they really don't believe what you are saying is important. You've got to show the people who think their lives wouldn't change after increased restrictions how they are wrong, and that they can do something about it. The only call to action is "I assume if you are reading this you're a good guy" (bad assumption...google has existed for a long time now) "[but if not] look inside and ask yourself, what do you believe?" In other words, "Strengthen those preconceived notions, whatever they may be."

No cookie for Steven.

Sorry, just in an analytical/critical mood today.
 
LOL...whoever wrote that hasn't spent any time around motorcyclists. Look at it this way... they own a means of transportation they KNOW is 25 times more likely to get them killed than a car, and which is fairly impractical (hard to carry your groceries, no rain protection, etc.)... and if you try to take it away they'll fight you just as hard as any gun owner. Not a casual possession.
Click to expand...

I beg to differ Ed, I'm sure you know motorcycle owners who use their pickup to haul their motorcycle a lot more than they actually ride the thing. How many professionals have we seen buy up motorcycles and ride them just on a occasional basis, and made their purchase because it was "the current cool thing to do."

Kind of like the gun owners who bought up guns based on what they saw in a movie, and get it home and never shoot the thing at all, and after the "fad" they are looking to sell it off.

How many people out there saw a run on guns and ammo, and at a lower price, bought up everything they could afford (and then some), and are now trying to cash in on their investments?
 
I'm not where I fall on the list,I ride and I am a firearms owner and a vet. [ Slot vet, I refer to as vet of the dammed,not elgible to join the american leigon ]I would be angry to have to give up any bikes or guns,You won't see mine on a trailer unless it's broke down,and when I suit up my riding gear would pay for a very fine kimber.
If you don't ride because you may get it dirty,SELL iT.
 
Shrug. There are all kinds of everything... I guess my point is that if you talked to the "haul to the ride" riders you'd probably be surprised at just how big a part of their lives THEY thought riding was. Same with the "guns are for hunting, not politicking" gun owners. Just because a person's interests are different from ours doesn't mean they are disinterested.

That's the real flaw in the article, and it was pervasive. It assumed that anyone who didn't share the type of interest the author thought was good represented error or disinterest. The author isn't interested in motorcycles so OF COURSE everyone considers motorcycles just a possession. The author doesn't see that many dedicated gun owners have different views of what guns are for, and how they can acceptably be used, than he does so OF COURSE all those people are either disinterested or belligerent. He divides the world into "people who aren't actively helping me so are disinterested", "people who are hurting me so are belligerent", and "the good guys."

In reality there are a bunch of people all working towards what they think is right. They are all good guys, all #3, but they all have different ideas so they push against each other and move in different directions. Some are enthusiastic, some aren't, but they all think they are doing the right thing in their humble way. If you want to get something done you don't say, "think about what you really believe," you say, "because X and Y means Q we should do X and Y. Unless you can find some error in my logic you should help me make it happen. Let's go X and Y! Woohoo!" Well, you get the idea. You present ideas, explain why they are good, accept that they might not be and if someone can knock them down you rebuild them better...and by doing all of that you create a large enough pool of like minded thinkers that all the #3s, #2s, and #1s just sort of melt into irrelevance.

Or do your own thing....I'm not the boss of anybody on this forum (that I know of).
 
I beg to differ Ed, I'm sure you know motorcycle owners who use their pickup to haul their motorcycle a lot more than they actually ride the thing. How many professionals have we seen buy up motorcycles and ride them just on a occasional basis, and made their purchase because it was "the current cool thing to do."
Click to expand...

I'd agree...

I know alot of motorcycle owners.... very few bikers. PLENTY of people own motorcycles here and ALOT (and I can't stress that enough) only own one because it helps them pick up chicks or because their friends ride. I know plenty of people like this, only one is a true biker. Hell, I own a motorcycle and I only got it because I thought a cruiser would be "cool" (consider me a "casual" motorcycle owner) .

It's the "cool" thing, not many make motorcycles a life style....

the same can be said for guns... plenty of gun owners, not all are advocates and probably could care less. Many simply own because someone convinced them to buy one, their friends all own one, or they want the "cool" stuff (ie. owns a glock and AK knockoff and aspires to own a ar15. thats all). They don't care about activism or advocating gun rights.

As far as the article goes...

I fit in the 3rd category, Or atleast hope I do. I don't have the resources or the means to advocate the 2nd amendment like some people, so I do what I can with what I have. I open carry daily (not yet 21), I'm setting up a open carry day next month, got my girlfriend into the 2nd amendment (went from not wanting me to OC to vehemently defending me when i'm hassled for OC), wrote (and continue write) my states and other states politicians, joined the NRA, GONV, and awaiting the paperwork to become an FFL (been waiting a LOOONG time. lost my other ATF stuff in a move).
 
Huh. So either you are a biker and make motorcycles a lifestyle or you are just going along with the "cool" thing?

Sorry, life doesn't work that way. There are plenty of people that have no interest in being "bikers" and would no more consider motorcycles as a lifestyle than I would consider guns as a lifestyle yet they are very interested in riding. They might teach MSF courses on weekends, go riding whenever their schedule allows, enjoy fixing up their bikes, whatever...it's not for any of us to judge.

Same with guns. I am extremely pro RKBA...more than most on this forum (read some of my posts about why stripping the civil rights of felons is a mistake), NRA Life, GOA life, active in getting new shooters involved (have taken 3 new new "never shot a gun" people out in the past 2 months alone, and quite a few more than that over my life) yet I have no..NO..interest in making guns my "lifestyle."
 
I may have used the wrong word.

"lifestyle" might be too strong. Iit's late and I seriously cannot think of another (or I suppose the right) word to use.

My rkba views are akin to yours, Ed. RKBA should apply to any free man (ie. not in prison) freely and unregulated by the gov. Even a convicted criminal has the inalienable right to defend against tyranny, whether me or anyone else likes it or not.
 
I would agree that most gun owners fall into those three categories. They are perfect, but it appears to be a good representation.

I fall into the 3rd, along with my father. My brothers are both casual owners, unfortunately. They are not interested in joining the NRA or supporting the cause.
 
Thanks for all the compliments, insight and constructive criticism from Ed.
I knew when I used motorcycles as an example someone might take offense, I wish I would have said a speed boat or something, lol. Some bike owners are very dedicated to their machines. I know this. Harley Davidsons are as American as apple pie or John Brownings 1911s.

However, here is the catch, you can't defend your liberty with a motorcycle and the right to own a motorcycle isn't one of our fundamental rights.

Anyway, no list of categories can ever fit everyone, but I've found the majority of gun owners fit more or less into one of these groups. The point of the article was to make people think about where they stand.

BTW, I may have to make a new category.. Idiots that voted for Obama then realized he was a gun grabber who are now buying guns if they can find them, then bitching they can't find ammo, lol.

Thanks guys! you're the best!
 
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