(courtesy starwars.wikia.com)

At 2pm EST, I’ll be talking live on NPR, defending gun rights. Why go to the media equivalent of Mos Eisley? Doing my job sometimes means that I have to interact with people who don’t agree with me. By putting myself in a position to try to influence those people who don’t agree with the majority of responsible gun owners in this country, I am better able to do my job. What job is that, you ask? . . .

Increasing people’s ability to protect themselves. As someone educated in the field of personal defense specializing in defensive firearms use, I have a vested interest in making sure that more people understand their right and responsibility to defend themselves, their family and (possibly) their country.

While it may be a lot more fun to hang out at the shooting range, gun shop or in my favorite online forum (www.thefiringline.com, if you must know) and talk with like-minded folks, I’m not one for simply preaching to the choir when it comes to our right to keep and bear arms. So sometimes I go into the dragon’s lair. Today I’m going to be on NPR. Yes, the dreaded National Public Radio, that bastion of liberal elite media. Why? Because that’s where the middle ground tunes in.

NPR listeners don’t read TTAG and they don’t tune in to see me on the Outdoor Channel. They listen to NPR, watch World News Tonight and The Daily Show (which I’ve also been on). They don’t all hang out in Alabama and Texas. They’re in Chicago and Manhattan and other big city areas where the anti-gun ethos holds sway.

I challenge you to do your job as a responsible firearms owner interested in expanding our RKBA by following my example. Go somewhere less comfortable this week and have a positive interaction about the rights and responsibilities we have for personal defense and firearms ownership in America.

Skip Dunkin Donuts and hit the fancy coffee shop with your friends for some (moderately loud) pro-gun talk. Make sure that you (noticeably) ask someone in the stands at your kid’s basketball game if they’ve been out shooting or if they’ve taken the time to clean their guns recently.

Don’t be rude, don’t be aggressive. Don’t even be confrontational. Just be present and see who you can influence. It’s kinda part of your job as a gun owner in today’s political climate.

Be glad you don’t have to smuggle droids out of an occupied city to go rescue a princess from a space station (that’s no moon). Our lives are a lot easier than that, but sometimes we have to go places that we dont like and have conversations that make us uncomfortable. I’ll be doing that in about an hour or so.

Of course, I wish I could have a Jedi Knight with me . . . .

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63 COMMENTS

  3. Make sure you compliment the officers of Sandy Hook who made it to the scene in just THREE minutes. (Early reports of a twenty minute response time are disputed by the officers on the scene.) If Sandy Hook can happen with just a three minute lead, then it is clear that we have to be our own first responders.

    No one could reasonably ask more from the officers than a three minute response time. There’s only so much they can do, and they can’t always be by our sides. WE have the responsibility to protect ourselves and our children.

    • Remember Aurora as well. The first law enforcement officers were on scene within 90 seconds of the 911 calls.

    • implying the cops were there within three minutes of the first shot fired only helps the citizen disarmament advocates. Three minutes from when they got the call is a good response time, but it’s not an accurate measure of how long the shooter was active.

  6. I used to listen to NPR every morning on the way to work. Then the Sandy Hook coverage was so anti-gun and horribly slanted I started tuning in to conservative talk radio stations on the AM channels. I’m much happier now. Bonus is that I don’t have to hear anymore Obama humping news stories either.

    It’s a win-win honestly

    • I started to listening Mike Church SiriusXM Patriot on my way to work. Well worth the subscription price.

  7. Of course, I wish I could have a Jedi Knight with me….

    If the analogy holds, Rob, you ARE the Jedi Knight.

    Think about it — in the Star Wars mythos, Jedi operate alone, or at most, paired up with someone junior. They go into scary situations where there are people involved in conflict, some of it violent, and do their best to resolve things peacefully. If that’s not possible, the Jedi help people defend themselves against those who would reduce or eliminate their freedom and rights.

    Sounds about right to me. After all, when you’re in the green room waiting to go on air, it doesn’t matter how many people are there — you’re on your own. If we had Jedi for real, touching people’s hearts and minds through the media would absolutely be part of their job description.

  8. “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany” Mos Eisley or Washington DC…your choice!

  10. Way ahead of you, Rob Pincus. I listen to NPR regularly. Please lay off the idea that all of us gun owners and gun-rights advocates are of one mind on other issues. NPR works to avoid taking sides, especially taking sides without giving the context of the story.

    • I used to listen to NPR a lot and still do when it isn’t election season. I think NPR tries to give the appearance of balance and fact-based reporting, but they betray that objective by fact selection and story arrangement. For instance, they will air views/statements by the side they don’t agree with first, and then impeach those statements by contrary statements from the side they agree with, giving them the last word. It is designed to leave an impression with the audience that the side getting the last word can’t be refuted, while purporting to be an objective news story. It happens a lot, and gets annoying after a while.

  12. I listen to public radio daily. They are not liberal elitist. The biggest media research group in the country, MRI (Media Research International), found in a national poll conducted in 2011 that both liberal and conservative voters felt that NPR was evenly balanced in representing political views. But of course, people hear what they want to hear. Good luck Rob.

    • I listen to NPR a lot as well, and do find that they are about in the middle on most issues. If Pincus can reach an audience that might not hear a pro-gun argument otherwise, I say go for it!

    • It’s all about the issues that they don’t cover. That’s the subtlest form of media bias, and when practiced across most of the media (absent FNC and the WSJ) it’s quite effective.

  13. Who wants a “Jedi Knight” with them? I’ve seen the prequels after all. What you need is a pilot with a fast ship and who is smart enough to shoot first.

  14. “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.” -HS

    I listen to NPR and while I do feel it’s a quality news source, I’m sure for some folks here at TTAG the fact that it leans slightly-left on many issues is enough to brand it “Liberal Elite Media.”

    But NPR and its local Seattle branch KPLU features a lot of content I wouldn’t hear on “normal” news outlets such as this story about a Korean-American pastor working in a predominantly Black church:

    http://www.npr.org/2013/01/25/170266004/thefts-make-korean-pastor-tackle-prejudice-at-home

    or this story:

    Dr. Dre’s ‘The Chronic’: 20 Years Later
    http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2013/01/22/169936449/the-chronic-20-years-later-an-audio-document-of-the-l-a-riots

    I doubt Fox News would run interest pieces about those things.

    Most of my friends are also NPR listeners, so the recent Sandy Hook / gun stories have been good conversation starters to talk about the importance of 2A freedoms and gun rights.

    In any case, I’ll look forward to hearing you Mr. Pincus on NPR! Sensible folks like you in the gun owning community are setting a great example in both standing up and being rational when it comes to having these discussions with our fellow Americans.

  15. I challenge you to do your job as a responsible firearms owner interested in expanding our Right to Keep & Bear Arms by going somewhere less comfortable this week and striking up a positive interaction about the rights & responsibilities we have for personal defense and firearms ownership in America.

    Skip Dunkin Donuts and hit the fancy coffee shop with your friends for some (moderately loud) pro-gun talk. Make sure that you (noticeably) ask someone in the stands at your kid’s basketball game if they’ve been out shooting or if they’ve taken the time to clean their guns recently.

    Even though there’s nothing wrong with it, I find from casual observation that a lot of people are weirded out if you start talking to them about guns out of the blue. Honestly it is a little weird if you’re not in the right environment. Should it be? Not necessarily, but that’s the way it is.

    Best way is to catch acquaintances and casual friends off guard and make them think differently about it because they know you and you’re not one of those scary gun guys (or so they think). It’s amusing to see the surprise on their faces when your hobby comes up in casual conversation and usually, after that, they’re inquisitive and open to coming to the range.

    That’s how you convert people. Not by going “HAY GUISE! GUNS!” to random strangers. IMO, FWIW, etc. etc.

    • this reminded me of just the other day when I had a meeting with my financial advisor. She is a middle-aged single woman. she was talking about hot stocks and I asked her if she had many people buying or selling firearm related stocks (ruger, colt etc). It lead to a good conversation and I was able to answer alot of questions for her. Just an example of a way to bring up the conversation.

  17. Rob.

    You are a Jedi. Of Obi Wan caliber.

    May the Force be with, and, thank you.

    Nous Defions
    de Oppresso Libre

  18. Also, do you bring these commenters with you from your favorite forum and link them to every thing you post on TTAG or something?

  23. I hope some of you got the hear the piece… that is the second time in a week that I’ve had audio problems with big media!

    Anyway, as I said above, the blog article was a bit “tongue in cheek”… I do listen to NPR when I am driving around and find them to be pretty informative. Non-the-less, they are definitely Left Leaning. I think today’s “Talk of the Nation” program has been a fair conversation about appropriate defensive use of a firearm. I hope to be able to post a link to an archive at TTAG!

    -Rob

    • +1

      You’re awesome, Rob. Thanks for being willing to speak out on a big media outlet like NPR!

      Maybe they’ll feature you as a regular with all this gun-related stuff in the headlines… =)

  26. Great job Rob. I’ve thought the show has been fair so far, haven’t heard any anti-gun sentiment even implied… The overall message has been very pro self defense, pro responsibility.

    Sounded good once you went to a landline.

  27. By the time I got to it, I heard only the end of the woman’s encounter with a pervert at a rest area. Wish I could’ve heard the whole segment.

  28. Piers Morgan went to a Texas gun range for his show on CNN last night (see the review on BOLO Report FB page). If Piers can stand up for his beliefs and match wits with Ted Nugent and others…I have no doubt you will do quite well. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see you convinced some folks to join the NRA, purchase a firearm or take an I.C.E. class.

  29. Rob, I completley agree with you about having clear conversations about guns in less conventional places. I find when I’m in public with friends that I’m doing this more and more and generally the point gets out and others join in. Usually it remains positive but I also havnt braved a place like Starbucks. Mostly grocery store lines and such.

    A lot of pro-gun buddies say it is no ones business why they like or own guns. In a perfect world I would agree but we are far from that. We have to get thw facts out there

  30. A friend of mine who’s neither pro nor anti-gun called me and suggested that I listen to this great piece on NPR. I’m looking forward to 6:00 PM when I can check it out online. I heard Rob did a nice job. Congratulations.

  31. Good luck Rob! I spend a good deal of time on the more liberal sites as I’m looking for challenges to my beliefs. It is amazing the level of misinformation (disinformation?) coming from the anti-gun crowd. Once you diffuse the rhetoric and strip down the issue to the root cause it becomes obvious which side is bolstered by facts.

  33. Show Recording is here, I join aat about 15 mins in…
    Here’s the Audio Recording of my participation on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” show earlier today. As much fun as it is to poke fun at NPR’s image as overly liberal and left-leaning, I have to tell everyone that this was a VERY FAIR show. A producer conducted a 30 minute interview with me prior to the Live On Air segment, and the questions I was asked reflected an understanding of the things that I wanted to talk about and absolutely no “spin” or “agenda” on the part of the host or network. I’d love to hear YOUR thoughts on the show. As always, PLEASE SHARE!

    http://www.npr.org/2013/02/05/171173027/drawing-your-gun-the-moment-and-the-aftermath

  34. Thanks for pulling weight, Rob. And, thanks to all my Yeoman Gunnies swimming against the torrents of public scrutiny.

    Here’s Rob’s Interview.

    http://www.npr.org/2013/02/05/171173027/drawing-your-gun-the-moment-and-the-aftermath

    Drawing Your Gun: The Moment And The Aftermath

    February 05, 2013 1:00 PM
    Talk of the Nation
    30 min 19 sec

    Guests:

    Walter Kirn, national correspondent, The New Republic
    Rob Pincus, personal defense and shooting instructor

    In the debate on gun control, self-protection and the protection of others are commonly cited justifications for gun ownership. NPR’s Neal Conan talks with guests about what happens when a person draws a gun on another individual.

    [Pardon the duplicate, just saw Rob posting an update with link as I was watching mine being posted.]

  35. “go somewhere that your less comfortable” I already live in a place
    Less comfortable. The only worse places I could go is Newark and Trenton, and that’s a death wish.

  36. As usual, your spot on Rob. As 2nd amendment activists and as instructors, I think it’s important to have those interactions and conversations with the opposition, or mostly uniformed in my experience.

    When you counter their emotional arguments with facts and logic, you usually, can at least get them to think.

    I also will take anyone, liberal, conservative, gay, straight, black or white, christian or not, to the range. Unless your a terrorist or crazy, I’ll be happy to take you shooting. I have yet, to have anyone say, “That was horrible and I never want to do that again”.

    I suggest others do the same. The person may not go buy their fist gun, but it takes the fear away and replaces it with education. That’s my goal.

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