gun-nut-97930807682

By Charles Romano

Gun owners are a breed apart from the rest of humanity; at least according to those who have a fear, dislike, or hatred of guns and the people that own them. It is those same feelings that allows them to defame and vilify the collected population of gun owners across the country as nothing more than a bunch of ill-bred, anti-government, white, racists who have few, if any, qualms about killing any person, regardless of age, for whatever reason or whim they deem acceptable . . .

Their supporting argument to this gun owning archetype are deranged criminals, mass murderers, and right wing extremists who make for easy marks to make the case. With such a preponderance of evidence that all gun owners are child murdering psychopaths, the only logical course of action for the rest of America is to believe just that. But, like all cases of stereotyping and discrimination, the truth goes much deeper than simple appearances allow.

Discrimination in this country is a serious topic, but one usually reserved for situations involving gender, race, religion, age, and sexuality. Preventing someone from receiving necessary services, denying them fundamental rights, or creating defaming ads or committing a violent act against any of the aforementioned particulars are grounds for action ranging from simple civil suits up to, and sometimes including, felony hate crime charges. A person or group can espouse a discriminatory view and even use hate speech to promote it, but as long as they don’t cross a certain line then they are still protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

As an example; in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, one of the most resounding changes in the United States was an immediate distrust of the entire Muslim community. Businesses run by Muslims were boycotted, people of the faith or of an Arabic background were subjected to epithets of a vast range, surveillance programs (both official and unofficial) sprung up overnight to keep tabs on anyone of Arabic descent, and crimes fueled by hatred became commonplace occurrences. The most brutal crimes varied from assaults, to rapes, and even murders.

This blind hatred of an entire race and religious subculture even led to crimes being committed against people who just looked remotely Muslim or Arabic (such as the beatings of several Indian Sikhs simply based on their turbans even though they were neither Muslim, nor Arabic). Cooler heads attempted to quell the spat of Anti-Arabic mindsets by trying to remind the citizens of the United States that not all Muslims are terrorists, just as all Arabs are not necessarily Muslim.

It is in this form of discrimination that one of the most direct parallels to discrimination against gun owners can be made. Just because a prevailing stereotype exists does not make it true. Now, of course, the people who try to champion these stereotypes as part of an agenda will never accept anything else as truth, but that still leaves all the non-extremists up for changing their minds and instilling them with the knowledge of what is real. That is why we, as gun owners, must raise ourselves over the stereotypes so that we may lay low any chance of stronger discriminatory acts from taking root.

Right now, beyond a campaign of distaste and distrust against gun owners, the only major issues we must contend with are banks and credit cards distancing themselves from gun sales and legislative proposals that target firearms sales and ownership. With the help of heavy corporate lobbying and citizen backlash, most states have refused to pass new legislation. However I fear that all this does is delay the inevitable as public perception drives policy, and if the public continues to see gun owners as violent, racist, right-wing, white extremists then they will care less about rights in the long run in the interest of “public safety”.

America needs to see a different gun owner than the ones that Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and any other such groups try to pass off as the average gun owner. We need to show the country that a gun owner can be of any race, any gender, any religion, any sexual preference, any political alignment, and any background.

That is why I co-founded the Legislative Oversight & Knowledge Initiative (LOKI). LOKI is not a gun lobby as its true mission is to protect the fundamental and Constitutional rights of all Americans; it just so happens that the actions that spurred LOKI into being were the spat of anti-gun legislation that had been proposed in Rhode Island. We at LOKI are working beyond that, having noticed that the new plight of gun owners is not just the anti-gun bills that threaten their rights but also the negative public image that is being generated by the acts of real monsters and the targeted publicity of a few groups and individuals.

LOKI is going to try and counter that with its own ad campaign to help those who may have been swayed otherwise into realizing that just because a person owns a gun does not make them a murderer much in the same way that a woman who dresses in a certain manner does not make her a slut, or a person who owns costume fangs is somehow a vampire. A person is not definable by what own or how they dress or where they came from.

A person is defined by their actions.

So in truth, we are not gun owners.

We are just people…

…and that is all that should need to be said.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

102 COMMENTS

  1. I’m not apologizing for being an OFWG. Neither should anyone else. Thumbs down on your comparing Muslims to gun owners. If you look closely one can see Muslims have won the PR ( PC ) campaign. Religion of peace don’tcha’ know?

    • Whether they’re `peaceful’ Muslims or jihad warrior Muslims, they all read the same Koran which teaches all Muslims to convert, subjugate, or kill all those whom their book deems “infidels”, meaning anyone who does not acknowledge Allah & `prophet’ Mohammed.

      Bottom line.

      • That is hands down the single most asinine comment I have ever read on this website. Congrats for that.

        You’re right, they all read the same Koran. Just like all Christians read the same Bible. Just like Westboro Baptist with all their messages of hate is the same as all theBaptist churches, Lutheran churches, Methodist churches, and Roman Catholic churches.

        That is the exact kind of mindset that this author is trying to argue against; close-minded people who are so quick to judge and hate

        • Westboro hate does not derive from any biblical teaching.

          Jihadism is Muslim doctrine.

          Apples and Oranges.

      • I’ve made a 180 to something like this position of late. You’re deluded if you think Muslims won’t try to establish Sharia Law anywhere and everywhere they can in this country (or any other, for that matter).

        And the U.S. Constitution and Sharia are utterly INCOMPATIBLE with one another.

        Therefore, however unfortunate it may seem, Islam has no place in America, PERIOD.

        • Well considering the US is established to have this amazing thing called the First Amendment that protects freedom of religion, you really have no leg to stand on. Not to mention that there are millions of Muslims living all over the world who have zero interest in establishing sharia law in the country of residence. Contradict that with the vast amounts of Christian guided laws we already have in America and you will see how ridiculously prejudiced that statement is.

        • There is no constitutional protection for CULTS.

          I say Islam is a CULT since the primary indicator of a cult is that you are subject to sanctions if you leave the cult. Islam has that in spades. If present-form Islam was created in the last century it would have been easily dismissed as a cult rather than a religion.

          “millions of muslims who have zero interest in Sharia” means nothing when the DYNAMIC and ACTIVE segment of Islam is murdetous and crazy

        • They’re all cults, Moslem, Catholic, Baptist, Jew, Hindu, all cults. Anybody who believes in little green men doing magic is demented. And ANY religion introduced in the past century would be laughed off the planet.

          • As a Bon Buddhist, I’m pretty tolerant of others’ beliefs. But when it tips over into ignorance of reality and outright intolerance, I get a bit testy at times.

            My “shame”: I’ve been known to respond to those who claim the Bible is the “literal word of God” with, “So, you have an autographed first edition?” 😀

            Because, COME ON, I know that it was written down by men, not some Divinity. Why can’t everybody admit it?

    • Hopefully you’re joking, otherwise you’re a waste of matter and putting energy out that’s contrary to everything responsible and sane gun owners are trying to work towards.

    • I don’t care if the group involved worships Satan; until they are ready to do me and my fellow citizens, humans, harm they are not a threat and even if they do me or my fellow citizens harm they themselves are citizens, human, beings subject to due process and, hopefully, inalienable rights.

      I’m not going to support thuggery to beat-down suspected malefactors because the thugs we create have a bad habit of going berserk, spreading far more injustice, murder and mayhem than the original suspected malefactors.

      • You DO know that Luciferians are not out to make the world a better place for you and me, right?

    • The authors slanderous statements about Americans are typical Leftist lies from the America-hating university campuses and the MFM.

  2. The issue must be resolved, as much as it realistically can be, within our own ranks first. Until then it is a case of pointing out the splinter in our brother’s eye when there is a plank in our own.

  3. Mr Horsey,

    What is an “assault rifle” and why do the police need them so badly if we never will? Is need the basis of exercising our rights? Thanks.

    • His full name is David Horsey and he has drawn many anti gun cartoons.

      “His editorial position is anchored firmly on the left, and he eschews any criticism of the Obama administration. He is highly critical of Christians, Republicans, and the Tea Party. He is strongly supportive of the LGBTQ community.” From wikipedia

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

      I wonder how he would draw gay or any nonsterotype gunowners? Probably to full of himself to realize that he is being racist against whites but that is PC so it’s okay.

  4. If we gun owners are such potentially violent, hate-filled, irrational individuals, heavily armed and ready to commit mass murder at a synaptic twitch, why would any sane individual want to piss us off?

    • If gun owners are so prone to violence why are there still anti-gunners around to complain about the guns?

    • Because all of the most vocal proponents of civil disarmament are not going to be the ones who have to kick in doors and do the dirty work… It’s like the trashy chick who picks fight with random guys for her boyfriend to finish for her, it’s easy to pick a fight when you know someone else is going to do the fighting.

      • That is about right.

        Course in the current ab ministration Gun Owners are ok as targets of derision by the media. Muslims, who believe in a pedophile goat herder, not so much.

        This will probably get taken down.

  5. “America needs to see a different gun owner than the ones that Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and any other such groups try to pass off as the average gun owner. We need to show the country that a gun owner can be of any race, any gender, any religion, any sexual preference, any political alignment, and any background.”

    Well said. Bravo!

  6. Stereotyping gun owners as OFWG plays to our advantage as minorities and women are the fastest growing segment of gun ownership.

      • +1 first comment by paul i agree with.

        got to love how the cartoon is holding the rifle like a guitar. I for one am glad i represent everything that this cartoon is not.

    • There you go; Paul; again. Using ad-hominem attacks against gun owners that you disagree with.

      I don’t agree with their strategy; But calling them “Chipotle Ninjas” and implying that they are “nut jobs” for doing what they felt was right shows once again for you; It’s do as I say and not as I do.

      You attack people that use ad-hominem attacks against you; then you turn around and use ad-hominem attacks against people that you disagree with.

      You’re a hypocrite; this is not an ad-hominem attack; just a statement of fact.

    • Anti-gunner logic runs more to black rifle = no gun, no cop = no gun, or scary minority = no gun. Your logic is more gun owners not like me = no gun.

    • So the “Chipotle Ninjas” broke the law, Paul? Why don’t you make a citizen’s arrest?

      Please tell me when and where, so I can bring a video camera.

  8. I’d love to see some PR by groups like The Pink Pistols or The Liberal Gun Club. Even if you don’t agree with everything about the groups, i think it’s important to show that there are people of all types/beliefs/shapes/colors/orientations that are firearms owners and proud defenders of the Second Amendment.

  9. OFWG label is bullshit. “Old” is a badge of honor that is bestowed on those lucky enough to survive their younger years. “White” and “guy” is per the genetic coding.

    “Fat”, now that is a choice. If you want to be fat, then so be it. But being old and white and male does not = fat. The worst gun owner stereotyping I have ever seen is done right here on TTAG.

  10. I think the the more dangerous connection that Horsey (who is a horse’s ass, by-the-way) and others are trying to make is between OFWG’s and the mentally ill. Not Muslims, or blacks, or gays for that matter. Just like in the comic above they are trying to say that you would have to be crazy to own a gun which makes anyone of us capable of walking into a school and blowing everyone away in their narrative. It also makes for a very easy connection to all of us needing to be evaluated. Who cares if we are being “discriminated” against. I fear being labeled as being “crazy” far more.

  13. Wow, that cartoon, racist much? I’m a gun nut and I dont look anything like that…Lol

  14. Wait. LOKI? An egomaniacal *bad guy* / trickster Norse god (depending on your preferred mythology)? Are all the other acronyms used up?

    • We could always go with “People Envisioning No Insulting Stereotypes.” I think the acronym for that is still available. 😀

  15. Banning weaponry responsible for double digit numbers of deaths out 6 digit numbers is only rooted in absurdity.

  16. Another I-support-the-second-amendment-but poseur, this guy isn’t even very good at disguising his contempt for People Of The Gun. To make his argument, he wants us to share his disdain for all those members of the Great Unwashed who clutter up his tidy landscape by—horrors!—being seen carrying guns. How unstylish and icky for these free citizens to insist that, they too, can exercise their constitutional rights. If only there were a better sort of people, people willing to promote more reasonable narrative about gun ownership. Surely even Shannon and the Moms might think better of us. Sorry homie, I ain’t buyin’ your twaddle. Go give Shannon a call. I sure you can do lunch.

  17. Last week at the range I saw a multitude of people there of different races and probably lyrics economic backgrounds. Almost everyone had an AR and out there, only one was an OFWG. I was the odd man out with two AKs and CZ pistols. The progressive stereotype of gun owners is ridiculous. Even one of my friends was on Facebook spewing this line.

  18. I may well be ” ill-bred, anti-government, white”, but at least I’m not an “inbred” or “line bred”, “sheep”, “illegal alien” like the leftists/liberals…

    • “Ill-bred, anti-government, white”? AKA Scots-Irish red-neck and damned proud of it!

  19. I tend to distrust anyone, from an individual to an entire religion, who expresses an intent either to radically change my core beliefs or, if I won’t accept their beliefs, kill me.

    • I notice you don’t deny being a hypocrite; you also sound like a twelve year old. The wonders of the internet. A twelve year old can act like an adult; but the truth will out.

      At least I hope your a twelve year old; at least then you have a chance of becoming a mature adult.

  21. It should be this simple; would you treat someone else exercising their rights (such as freedom of speech) as you would a gun owner? If not then why not?

  22. Oh dear, a TTAG writer just claimed that not all Muslims are terrorists. Everybody take cover while some try to justify their prejudices. I for one, have many muslim friends who I grew up with who have never, not even once, tried to kill me. Maybe I got a bunch of duds?

    • Since this is the p320 contest, its a reader submitting an article NOT a normal writer. But the articles have to be publishing by one of the on staff people i.e. dan in this case.

      • Who wrote it isn’t really important to the point I was making. I could have said “an article on TTAG…”

        • I am good friends with some also and theyve never once called me Kafir 🙂

          Some terms can be very confusing when used generally, its very different for one person to feel that way vs an entire organization.

      • Now you’ve done it, SteveInCO and JR are going to come out and say the following:

        “I knew that someone would say that there’s never been a problem with their Muslim; unless you’ve got an accurate, exhaustive count of interactions, you don’t know the mean point of failure and how many rounds (of interaction) between failures/attempts”.

        ** SteveInCo and JR: that was posted (half-) jokingly; all in good fun.

    • The article says some chains are allowing franchises to set policy themselves. I don’t get the bad part about that. Nothing in there about anywhere banning guns, not even Chipotle.

  24. Yeah I stopped reading after the whole Muslim thing, very poor example in my opinion. I will say this, a good portion if Muslims are good people, but on the other hand, those same Muslims do nothing to combat the kind of Muslims who want to kill Americans.

    I will say that “discrimination” against gun owners is something that I believe can be blown out proportion by those who claim to have been “discriminated” against. But yes, sometimes people do discriminate against gun owners. An they spew a lot of hate speech towards us, to the point where you can’t help but feel bad for them

    • “…but on the other hand, those same Muslims do nothing to combat the kind of Muslims who want to kill Americans.”

      Exactly what are they to do? They have no more to do with lunatics who happen to be of similar ethnicity and religion than you do with Tim McVeigh, The Unabomber, etc.

      • How about gathering an international meeting of Islamic clerics to define the DO’s and DON”Ts of what they define as the PROPER Islamic faith practice? Endorse a Koran 2.0 that “clarifies” (rewrites) the violent and killing sections. A skeptic might note that if you take the violence, rape, robbery, and murder out of the Koran you are left with a very thin pamphlet…..but that’s their problem to figure out. In other words Islam has to go through a reformation.

        So that is what they should do and yet we all know they won’t t do. In the end they will reap the whirlwind that they sow. One day the Jihadists will nuke an American or Russian city and the public (including me) will demand a disproportionate response and poof goes a bunch of major Islamic populations.

        It’s a race between an Islamic reformation and the nuclear elimination of millions of Mecca-heads. I’m betting that Islam makes the wrong choice…..it always does.

        • “How about gathering an international meeting of Islamic clerics to define the DO’s and DON”Ts of what they define as the PROPER Islamic faith practice?”

          Pardon me, did you just advocate a get-together of Sunnis, Shiites, and Wahabis? Should we order up some Sufis to dance in all the blood?

  25. I swear this has got to be the hundredth time I’ve read about all these phantom hate crimes that American Muslims endured after 9-11. Statistically this is not true. The FBI keeps numbers on this.

    • I would dare say Americans of Japanese descent were treated worse after the attack on Pearl Harbor than the Arab Muslims received after 9/11.

  26. My thought is that American gun owners are now the face of extreme discrimination. The gays won their battle. Now, American gun owners will win their battle against discrimination.

  27. 1) What exactly is an ‘assault rifle’ anymore? I’m confused… Do we just let Media/Lemming Sheeple make up their own definitions now — and accept them? Can THEY even tell me what an assault rifle is?

    2) No, it’s probably one big step away from Hitler or Pol Pot…. but it would still only be ONE STEP then. You’d remove the one real obstacle in the way of any potential Hitler (ya know, that whole “well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms” thing).

    I wonder if they’d cry then if some future President down the road were to say, suspend the 4th Amendment to ‘protect the people’ in the midst of some crisis? Maybe then they’d realize that the 2nd Amendment is the one Amendment that protects all of the others??

    3) Wow, and they complain about discrimination and intolerance, huh? Sheesh. Talk about Hypocrisy and snobbery. I guess we can’t all be LA LA heads sipping latte’ and jeering at the common folk.

  28. Gun owners are a breed apart from the rest of humanity

    Which is a damn good reason to be a gun owner.

  29. LOKI? You seriously came up with an acronym for your group that is the name of a trickster and deceiver god from the Norse pantheon? It’s like naming your group “lucifer” and is a PR fail.

  30. “So in truth, we are not gun owners.
    We are just people…
    …and that is all that should need to be said.”

    Sorry, Dan, but that’s incompatible with all of the “People of the Gun”-stuff written here all of the time.

    Personally, I find POTG corny; I’d also like to see things get to where no one is no more defined by owning a gun than they are a hammer, screwdriver, washing machine, etc.

    You don’t hear “People of the Lawnmower” (as far as I know).

    • Just as soon as someone tries to ban lawnmowers, perhaps for being harmful to the environment and thus THE CHILDREN, I bet you will start hearing about POTLM.

    • I find POTG corny, also. I’ve used it a couple times, but it doesn’t feel right when I say it. I like “Armed Americans” much better.

    • I don’t like “People of the Gun” … just sounds corny and cheesy, which is a great combination when you are referring to popcorn, but … otherwise, not.

      I prefer simply saying, “I’m a gun guy.”

      If I think I need to use some kind of informality.

      Otherwise, I simply say, “Sure, I own and enjoying learning how to use and shoot my firearms.”

      Period.

      • Gotta say “corny” is the best description. WAY to self-conscious, for my liking.

  31. I stopped reading after he brought up the mythical post-911, massive, anti-Muslim backlash that never happened.

  32. In regards to Horseys cartoon, I find it interesting that His portrayal of Firearms owners is hardly different than how Hitler and the nazis vilified the Jews with images of rats and caricatures of hook nosed greasy ogres. The media and the left in this country have created an image of the firearms owner in the US as a fascist, In my view, It is the media in this country that are using the same rule book as the Nazis.

  33. “an example; in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, one of the most resounding changes in the United States was an immediate distrust of the entire Muslim community. Businesses run by Muslims were boycotted, people of the faith or of an Arabic background were subjected to epithets of a vast range, surveillance programs (both official and unofficial) sprung up overnight to keep tabs on anyone of Arabic descent, and crimes fueled by hatred became commonplace occurrences. ”

    Um, wut? 9/11 wasn’t that long ago. Most of your readership is probably old enough remember it. I remember the media making a stink about a couple of these isolated incidents across the nation, certainly nothing like you’re describing. You can’t just make up history when most people still alive, you know, witnessed it.

  34. “anti-government, white, racists who have few, if any, qualms about killing any person, regardless of age, for whatever reason or whim they deem acceptable . . .”

    Funny how the same people who hold this viewpoint of us have no compunction about terminating the lives of unborn children, or of establishing death panels to “weed out” the elderly from the pool of those eligible for health care.

    And who demonstrate against the death penalty, while having violent fantasies about what they’d do to us….

  35. Demonizing gun owners is international. We are blamed for the actions of criminals, labeled as dangers to the community and society as a whole, and even potential terrorists. When these statements are made by politicians and journalists, it is bad enough. But when these statements are publicly made by senior police officers (assistant commissioners and higher), you have to wonder why is this happening.

    The kneejerk response to any firearms related incident anywhere is make the laws even tighter and more restrictive, even though the new laws will do nothing to prevent another one happening. And how does tighter gun laws in Australia stop the weekend mayhem of Chicago?

    Thankfully the public are realizing they’ve been lied to. Despite the best wishes of bureaucrats, politicians, journalists, Green Parties, socialists, etc, the number of license holders has been increasing and increasing faster than the rate of population growth. Despite this, the rate of crime and firearms crime in particular has been falling.

  36. “Gun owners are a breed apart from the rest of humanity; at least according to those who have a fear, dislike, or hatred of guns and the people that own them.”

    Correction, citizens gun owners. Leftists have no qualms with putting guns in the hands of militarized police, governments, armies…you know, the people with an actual track record of committing genocide and mass murder against their own people.

  37. People who were sunscreen are paranoid and delusional, your chances of getting skin cancer are actually small… people who have fire extinguishers are paranoid, how many fires has the average person put out?

    My question is this, do you have an actual argument, or are you relying solely on epithets and unqualified projected physiological analysis?

    Liberals are mostly weak privileged white people who have never had to deal with any real problems outside of their iPhone battery running out in the middle of a game of candy crush… see that, no arguments or definitions, just the sort of name calling we don’t tolerate form children.

    There is no rational response possible to this kind of rhetoric, that’s its purpose.

  38. The story was about the hatred and persecution piled on Arabs after 911, and how gunowners are the next target. Better be careful on the persecution, you might run into some problems, there.

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