Why Does The Gun Topic Engender Such Passion?

[Valin]

Ricochet:

The Sophist

12/28/12

 

As a quick glance at the Main Feed tells us, Ricochet these days looks not entirely dissimilar from say The Truth About Guns. Second Amendment politics is in the national conversation after the horror of Newtown, so that's one explanation. But we also have heavily commented threads on what gun to buy, the hypocrisy of the media, about the Second Amendment, about civil disobedience, etc. I've started a couple of those, and have participated in more.

 

One common thread across all gun-related discussions seems to me to be passion. We gunowners tend to be fairly level people in most areas -- if we weren't, we wouldn't trust ourselves with firearms -- but when it comes to gun rights, we're pretty passionate and fired up about it.

 

And on the other side, you have totally reasonable, rational people suddenly acting like absolutely unhinged ideologues when it comes to the eeeeevil gun.

 

Question is, Why? Why does this topic engender such passionate opposition and passionate advocacy on both sides?

 

As someone who navigated from the passionate anti-gun side to the passionate pro-gun side, I'm reflecting back and seeing if I can piece together a reason why. I have a theory.

 

(Snip)

[pollyannaish]

That is probably one of the best articles on the gun control issue and I would assert that his premise that gun control is trending in an elitist direction is correct. His liberal/conservative world view is absolutely correct.

 

The people I know who do not have a lot of money by are passionately anti-gun are very well educated and naively idealistic. They tend to work in a world of theory, not analytical evidence.

 

The passion though comes from the idea that Obama can say he is happy his daughters are guarded by 11 armed men, but won't let a dad defend his daughter if he can't afford 11 armed men.

[SrWoodchuck]

One statement that stands out for me:

The important thing, then, is for good people to be armed, to have the ability to resist and put down the bad. And it is especially important for people who are not agents of the state to have guns, to ensure that the state will not overstep its boundaries, as fallen humans inevitably will.

[SrWoodchuck]

[Valin]

That is probably one of the best articles on the gun control issue and I would assert that his premise that gun control is trending in an elitist direction is correct. His liberal/conservative world view is absolutely correct.

 

The people I know who do not have a lot of money by are passionately anti-gun are very well educated and naively idealistic. They tend to work in a world of theory, not analytical evidence.

 

The passion though comes from the idea that Obama can say he is happy his daughters are guarded by 11 armed men, but won't let a dad defend his daughter if he can't afford 11 armed men.

 

They also don't live in my neighborhood! Let's just say it is not exactly the Brentwood section of LA, or the Hamptons.

 

 

I also think many people don't know anything about firearms and what we don't know we fear, what we fear we want to be protected from.

Yeah guns are scarey, guns are dangerous...so is driving down the road at 60 mph. what they don't understand is guns are fun...and useful, just like driving down the road at 60 mph.