This is a serious question, and one which parallels another thread about why you first became interested in firearms. Because I have always been interested in firearms, early on I was puzzled why people became anti-gun. From personal observation, too often it comes about because of a tragedy within their family. Sarah Brady is possibly an example of this. Also, my grandmother didn't like guns because her nephew was accidentally shot with a .22 at a young age, but fortunately survived. Therefore, it is highly important that we conduct our own firearms-related activities SAFELY and RESPONSIBLY, so as not to create any more antis in that manner. So, from your personal experiences, what has caused people that you know to become anti-gun?
Why do people become anti-gun?
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rkh
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Here's a cynical answer...
People become anti-gun because they don't know any better and because they're influenced by media bias. Guns are routinely portrayed on TV and in popular news magazines as alien things to be feared and reviled. On slow news days, shootings (tragic as they may be) get absurd amounts of coverage. People tend to base their evaluations of an event's imprtance upon the amount of news coverage it receives. Why the hell do we all know who Natalee Holloway is?
For some people, it doesn't take much for the message to stick.
People become anti-gun because they don't know any better and because they're influenced by media bias. Guns are routinely portrayed on TV and in popular news magazines as alien things to be feared and reviled. On slow news days, shootings (tragic as they may be) get absurd amounts of coverage. People tend to base their evaluations of an event's imprtance upon the amount of news coverage it receives. Why the hell do we all know who Natalee Holloway is?
For some people, it doesn't take much for the message to stick.
dracphelan
Member
It can be any number of things:
1. Upbringing - raised to to hate and/or fear firearms.
2. Traunatic experience(s) - being shot and/or threatened with one
3. Believe what they are taught by others (professors, media, etc.).
I am sure there are more.
1. Upbringing - raised to to hate and/or fear firearms.
2. Traunatic experience(s) - being shot and/or threatened with one
3. Believe what they are taught by others (professors, media, etc.).
I am sure there are more.
ZeSpectre
Member
My personal experience seems to divide up into three categories.
1) Inexperienced/uneducated/brainwashed (getting their ideas about what a gun is and can do from the mass media, Hollyweird, whatever).
2) Personal tragedy (I've seen this the most with anti-gun and anti-motorcycle).
3) Phobia/Mental disorder (Genuine Hoplophobia).
1) Inexperienced/uneducated/brainwashed (getting their ideas about what a gun is and can do from the mass media, Hollyweird, whatever).
2) Personal tragedy (I've seen this the most with anti-gun and anti-motorcycle).
3) Phobia/Mental disorder (Genuine Hoplophobia).
CountGlockula
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Ignorance.
Smokey Joe
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Why?
Good reasons it seems to me to cause people to become anti-gun. (Not that that makes them SENSIBLE reasons, mind you!)
I propose another reason: Lack of personal experience. To the uneducated eye, some guns at least "look mean." They all make loud scary noises. They can cause bloodshed and death. They are sometimes used by bad people to do bad things. If you aren't interested in looking further than that into guns, or gaining any personal experience before forming an opinion, it's easy to overlook the neutral aspects (no gun ever shot anybody all by itself) and the positives, and guns all become abhorrent.
Couple that with media portrayal, both in fictional shows and on the news, which reinforces everything negative about guns, and there you have it.
It's a very short step from there, to wanting them all banned.
Good reasons it seems to me to cause people to become anti-gun. (Not that that makes them SENSIBLE reasons, mind you!)
I propose another reason: Lack of personal experience. To the uneducated eye, some guns at least "look mean." They all make loud scary noises. They can cause bloodshed and death. They are sometimes used by bad people to do bad things. If you aren't interested in looking further than that into guns, or gaining any personal experience before forming an opinion, it's easy to overlook the neutral aspects (no gun ever shot anybody all by itself) and the positives, and guns all become abhorrent.
Couple that with media portrayal, both in fictional shows and on the news, which reinforces everything negative about guns, and there you have it.
It's a very short step from there, to wanting them all banned.
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ronto
Member
Probably by listening to the lyrics of "What a Wonderful World" too many times.
wacki
Member
Politicians have long had a reason to control firearms. Honestly I wonder if the current anti-gun movement is just leftover from what Nazi Germany's Dr. Joseph Goebbel called argumentum ad nauseum. They used the tactic back then, obviously it still works now.
another okie
Member
Let's not forget that thousands of people are in fact killed in this country by other people with firearms, and thousands more kill themselves using firearms each year. It's a fact, and we have to understand and deal with it. For people that don't know how bloody the world was before firearms it may seem that having firearms around is an unnecessary risk.
For some urban people the only time they ever see a gun is on a police officer or in the hands of a criminal.
Some people don't like loud noises.
Some people don't like hunting, usually because it symbolizes a world of competition, life or death, and blood, and they want the world to be Pepsi, Oprah Winfrey, and peace.
Some people don't like anything that men like.
Some people don't trust other people with power of any sort, whether weapons or votes.
I think there are very few antigun people actually driven by fear of an armed populace resisting government power. The idea itself seems ridiculous to most antigunners when you mention it to them.
For some urban people the only time they ever see a gun is on a police officer or in the hands of a criminal.
Some people don't like loud noises.
Some people don't like hunting, usually because it symbolizes a world of competition, life or death, and blood, and they want the world to be Pepsi, Oprah Winfrey, and peace.
Some people don't like anything that men like.
Some people don't trust other people with power of any sort, whether weapons or votes.
I think there are very few antigun people actually driven by fear of an armed populace resisting government power. The idea itself seems ridiculous to most antigunners when you mention it to them.
gulogulo1970
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Fear.
redneck2
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You live in downtown NY or Chicago, 20th floor apartment
The only time you're going to see a gun is if it's pointed at you during a mugging
No valid reason for guns to exist. They only kill people or animals that can't fight back.
I think opera and ballet should be outlawed. I don't enjoy them, never will, and they have no redeeming value IMO. That's the same logical that ballet lovers have about guns.
The only time you're going to see a gun is if it's pointed at you during a mugging
No valid reason for guns to exist. They only kill people or animals that can't fight back.
I think opera and ballet should be outlawed. I don't enjoy them, never will, and they have no redeeming value IMO. That's the same logical that ballet lovers have about guns.
Big Calhoun
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Well, from my personal, there can be a variety of reasons.
One is somehow being associated with a violent incident that involves guns. My wifes brother had a friend that killed his younger brother accidentally. Because she was aware of that situation, she became rabidly anti-gun. Took quite some time for me to convince her that it's the individual, not the gun. But in that kind of incident, IMO, one would easily focus on the act rather than the actor.
Another is just being a sheep and lack of education. Everyonce in a while I still think about this: Many moons ago, a friend and I were playing in his backyard. We were playing with very unrealistic guns that used air/pump action to shoot hollow rubber 'bullets'.
My friends neighbor had a relative that died during an armed robbery years prior. So this nieghbor had a deep disdain for guns. So, when she see's us out playing, she summons us over and procedes to lecture us on the evils of guns, how its against "Gods plan", yadda yadda yadda. So my friends mother asked what happened (why we weren't playing any more) and we explained and she went to talk to the nieghbor. So she got beat down with statistics and evils associated with the proliferation of illegal firearms, yadda yadda yadda. End result, his mother, who gave two flying feathers before, became deeply anti. That incident still burns me up.
It can be a situation one was involved in, lack of education, or just a phobia. But there always is some sort of 'trigger' as to why people are so anti...no pun intended.
One is somehow being associated with a violent incident that involves guns. My wifes brother had a friend that killed his younger brother accidentally. Because she was aware of that situation, she became rabidly anti-gun. Took quite some time for me to convince her that it's the individual, not the gun. But in that kind of incident, IMO, one would easily focus on the act rather than the actor.
Another is just being a sheep and lack of education. Everyonce in a while I still think about this: Many moons ago, a friend and I were playing in his backyard. We were playing with very unrealistic guns that used air/pump action to shoot hollow rubber 'bullets'.
My friends neighbor had a relative that died during an armed robbery years prior. So this nieghbor had a deep disdain for guns. So, when she see's us out playing, she summons us over and procedes to lecture us on the evils of guns, how its against "Gods plan", yadda yadda yadda. So my friends mother asked what happened (why we weren't playing any more) and we explained and she went to talk to the nieghbor. So she got beat down with statistics and evils associated with the proliferation of illegal firearms, yadda yadda yadda. End result, his mother, who gave two flying feathers before, became deeply anti. That incident still burns me up.
It can be a situation one was involved in, lack of education, or just a phobia. But there always is some sort of 'trigger' as to why people are so anti...no pun intended.
RockyMtnTactical
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Usually ignorance all the way around. They are either pacifists or they have a liberal mindset that the average person cannot take care of themself and make their own good decisions.
Also, many of them have the same type of thinking that liberals have about gun ownership and also things like the WOT. They believe that if we don't confront evil that it will go away... but the opposite is true of course.
All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
Also, many of them have the same type of thinking that liberals have about gun ownership and also things like the WOT. They believe that if we don't confront evil that it will go away... but the opposite is true of course.
All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
Sharps-shooter
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usually people don't become anti-gun. They start out that way. All normal human babies are bothered by sudden loud noises. It scares them.
I think anti-gun, or gun-shy as we call it in dogs, is sort of the default status, and people become pro-gun only when they see they have a use for them (either for fun or out of necessity). Our family used to raise Golden retrievers. At first, they would be scared of the bang of a shotgun, but once they started to associate it with fetching ducks, they grew to love the very sight of a shotgun. When we imagine that people are much smarter or fundamentally different psychologically than golden retrievers, we begin to delude ourselves.
In the culture we're in now, the fear of guns is mostly only reinforced. People hear about guns in crime and war, and see guns on the teevee in association with stressful situations. They never get to fetch any ducks, and so they stay gunshy.
I think anti-gun, or gun-shy as we call it in dogs, is sort of the default status, and people become pro-gun only when they see they have a use for them (either for fun or out of necessity). Our family used to raise Golden retrievers. At first, they would be scared of the bang of a shotgun, but once they started to associate it with fetching ducks, they grew to love the very sight of a shotgun. When we imagine that people are much smarter or fundamentally different psychologically than golden retrievers, we begin to delude ourselves.
In the culture we're in now, the fear of guns is mostly only reinforced. People hear about guns in crime and war, and see guns on the teevee in association with stressful situations. They never get to fetch any ducks, and so they stay gunshy.
M2 Carbine
member
"Why do people become anti-gun?"
Now days they are taught it in school.
A friend called yesterday, he was mad, in his daughter's 8th grade history class the teacher told the kids that the 2nd Amendment was, "To protect the Army's right to have guns".
If it was my kid I'd be having a meeting with that teacher today.
Children are taught that guns are bad and it's carried so far in the public school system that if a very young kid so much as points his finger like a gun he is disciplined.
My friend's girl had been home schooled and is way ahead of the class and knew the teacher was wrong but was afraid to say anything.
My friend is having second thoughts, because of this and several other things, about taking his daughter out of the liberal public school system.
Now days they are taught it in school.
A friend called yesterday, he was mad, in his daughter's 8th grade history class the teacher told the kids that the 2nd Amendment was, "To protect the Army's right to have guns".
If it was my kid I'd be having a meeting with that teacher today.
Children are taught that guns are bad and it's carried so far in the public school system that if a very young kid so much as points his finger like a gun he is disciplined.
My friend's girl had been home schooled and is way ahead of the class and knew the teacher was wrong but was afraid to say anything.
My friend is having second thoughts, because of this and several other things, about taking his daughter out of the liberal public school system.
It's primarily ignorance combined with the media/TV/Hollywood coverage & portrayal of guns.
People aren't born anti-gun or pro-gun. We learn it. Either we develop a liking for guns for whatever reason (hunting with family, target shooting, liking military/tactical things, etc.), or we don't. Most of the latter folks have no other first-hand experience with or source of information about guns other than TV, movies, and the news.
All of those media portray guns as "violent" and inherently bad in some way. Just mention guns in a normal setting, and you're bound to get some responses like, "Guns are evil!" or, "Guns are violent!" by people who've never even seen one in person. They're more than happy to assign responsibility for violence (a human action) on an inanimate object b/c that's what they see in society with guns, but not with cars or anything else. When someone dies in a hit & run, we don't blame the car. If someone tried to use that as a defense, the judge would laugh at them, as would society.
Violence is a human action, and it's been around for as long as we have. Guns didn't spark violence. People have been killing each other since the dawn of mankind, whether with bare hands, clubs, knives, swords, guns, or bombs. People disregard the fact that violence is already illegal and believe the control-hungry politicians who erroneously claim that guns are bad and create violence.
Add to it a group of people whose loved ones have suffered or died via a gun shot wound. They can't get their loved one back, and blaming the attacker doesn't take away the pain, so they add blame to the gun as though the attacker's violent nature wasn't to blame and that he wouldn't have attacked with a knife or a baseball bat if no guns existed. Then another politician uses their grief to get their vote by acting like a champion for their misguided cause of taking away our gun rights. Then the news plasters pictures of a dead child or old lady to boost their ratings, and it's a feeding frenzy of ignorance sparked by emotional reactions to violence with actions targeted at the tool rather than the attacker.
These reasons are why people are anti-gun, IMO. It's never a good thing when ignorant people get their only information from the media.
People aren't born anti-gun or pro-gun. We learn it. Either we develop a liking for guns for whatever reason (hunting with family, target shooting, liking military/tactical things, etc.), or we don't. Most of the latter folks have no other first-hand experience with or source of information about guns other than TV, movies, and the news.
All of those media portray guns as "violent" and inherently bad in some way. Just mention guns in a normal setting, and you're bound to get some responses like, "Guns are evil!" or, "Guns are violent!" by people who've never even seen one in person. They're more than happy to assign responsibility for violence (a human action) on an inanimate object b/c that's what they see in society with guns, but not with cars or anything else. When someone dies in a hit & run, we don't blame the car. If someone tried to use that as a defense, the judge would laugh at them, as would society.
Violence is a human action, and it's been around for as long as we have. Guns didn't spark violence. People have been killing each other since the dawn of mankind, whether with bare hands, clubs, knives, swords, guns, or bombs. People disregard the fact that violence is already illegal and believe the control-hungry politicians who erroneously claim that guns are bad and create violence.
Add to it a group of people whose loved ones have suffered or died via a gun shot wound. They can't get their loved one back, and blaming the attacker doesn't take away the pain, so they add blame to the gun as though the attacker's violent nature wasn't to blame and that he wouldn't have attacked with a knife or a baseball bat if no guns existed. Then another politician uses their grief to get their vote by acting like a champion for their misguided cause of taking away our gun rights. Then the news plasters pictures of a dead child or old lady to boost their ratings, and it's a feeding frenzy of ignorance sparked by emotional reactions to violence with actions targeted at the tool rather than the attacker.
These reasons are why people are anti-gun, IMO. It's never a good thing when ignorant people get their only information from the media.
Incidents with high capacity high powered weapons, although comparatively rare, make a big impression on people. If you say that they don't make an impression on you, then I have to wonder how honest you're being.
The question is what is the rational reaction. If the death rate from people on a shooting spree with an Ar15 and a jacket full of magazines is small compared to the death rate from people not washing their hands and spreading flu, then we need to try and put our priorities on the most serious problems first. People are notoriously bad at understanding probabilities, and are generally extremely biased towards the sensational.
The question is what is the rational reaction. If the death rate from people on a shooting spree with an Ar15 and a jacket full of magazines is small compared to the death rate from people not washing their hands and spreading flu, then we need to try and put our priorities on the most serious problems first. People are notoriously bad at understanding probabilities, and are generally extremely biased towards the sensational.
mljdeckard
Member
Because it's easier to objectify the tool of a crime than the reason for a crime.
Well said. More people die from many other things than guns. Guns really pale in comparison to other causes of death when you think about it (excluding young gangbangers). But the guns and bloody carcases get ratings more than some 80 year old lady in the ICU with influenza who died, John Q Public's heart attack, Suzy Q's lung cancer, or some car accident fatality (unless it's bloody or has a car demolished or on fire). The media portray gun violence as a lot more commonplace than other far more commonplace things that are more likely to kill you.
TallPine
Member
Who is Natalee Holloway?
There is some evidence that the way a person's mind processes external stimuli is genetic. What this means in a nutshell and to sum up the types into just two groups is that some folks filter all thought through their hearts while others skip the emotional filter and think with their brains. There isn't a thing either type can do about it. That's the way they were born.
Folks that think with their hearts (filter all thought through a layer of feelings) are more easily able to attach to inanimate objects anthropomorphic qualities such as evil, bad, scary etc. In the real world this is inherently irrartional but that's just the way folks like that think. They can't help it and can easily become anti's thru training, media influence or personal experience.
It's kinda like what some folks think about liberalism - that it is a mental disease.
Folks that think with their hearts (filter all thought through a layer of feelings) are more easily able to attach to inanimate objects anthropomorphic qualities such as evil, bad, scary etc. In the real world this is inherently irrartional but that's just the way folks like that think. They can't help it and can easily become anti's thru training, media influence or personal experience.
It's kinda like what some folks think about liberalism - that it is a mental disease.
kb2iaw
Member
I dont know why...but if you asked them why they are not anti automobile,they proberly could not answer...but more people are killed in cars than guns...........:banghead:
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