Turning First-Time Gun Owners Into Gun Rights Voters Requires a New, Unified Approach

1. People don’t want empowerment as exemplified by the frightened cultists who walk amongst us.

   They want to be told what to do, what to eat, what to think, where to go and who to love. If you offer them free will to determine any of those things for themselves they become hostile and lash out.

   Even the “empowerment” movements of the likes of BLM and LGBTQRSTUV are, when the dust settles, essentially just coordinated panhandling.

2. “Turning new gun owners into new gun voters starts with educating and engaging them regularly.”

   Educating the ineducable?

   “Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.” — Robert Heinlein

   • It should be obvious why making converts is important.

     • Simply because they are now gun owners does not mean that they will ever be gun voters. We can’t “convert” them. They will convert themselves or they won’t. My guess is that most won’t.

       Thanks to our vaunted public indoctrination system, most Americans have less critical thinking skills than my cat.

       • A Leftist is, above all else, a Leftist in the voting booth…

     • Indeed. The only way they will be converted is when they start to realize that new “common sense gun safety” laws will directly screw THEM. And many are too stupid to realize it.

       Consider the case of “peace activist and SAFE Act gun control proponent” Dwayne Ferguson in 2014 — helping to clear a school campus after reports of a man with a gun being reported in campus, he was amazed when cops arrested him because it turned out that *he was the man with the gun.*

       “Friends have rallied to his side to say he ought not face the SAFE Act felony charges he supported for everyone else because it was “an honest mistake.”

       He and his friends are brain-dead, and some of them are gun owners.

3. Gun Control in any shape or form is rooted in racism and genocide. That’s chiseled. With that said all you little kids, moms and dads out there thinking you are doing something honorable by calling for Gun Control well do Gun Control some justice…March around wearing white sheets and pointed hats like the Jim Crow Gun Control military wing of the the KKK democRat Party or wear brown shirts like nazis and march around beating, murdering misfits who like Black Americans had no means of self defense.

   There are piles of tortured and dead left in the wake of Gun Control. Well meaning people assumed Gun Control was about crime when all along Gun Control targeted the citizenry and citizens got the short end of the stick…to say the l;east.

   Instead of looking very ignorant by catering to the party of Jim Crow Gun Control why not switch gears and hold the party of slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, the KKK, lynching, Eugenics, Gun Control and other race based atrocities liable for Monetary Reparations?

   By all historical accounts and up to the moment…A Black American belonging to the democRat Party makes as much sense as a Jew belonging to the nazi party.

   • “Instead of looking very ignorant by catering to the party of Jim Crow Gun Control why not switch gears and hold the party of slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, the KKK, lynching, Eugenics, Gun Control and other race based atrocities liable for Monetary Reparations?”

     Because they will spend OUR money doing it, Deborah…

4. The LGBTQ,xzy crowd is going to have to come out of the closet and fight. Stop relying on people like Chris Chen, or Tammy Bruce.
   The battle for civil rights has always been on a local level. If you are not willing to fight for your rights where you live. Then why should an outsider try and help you? If they send you money and you’re not willing to publicly fight for your rights. Then what are you doing with the money that is donated to you?

   Owning and possessing firearms has always been a sign of an independent thinker. Which is why the gun grabbers hate people who own guns.

   The Second Amendment is your Birthright as an American citizen. You as an individual must be willing to come out in public and fight for it. It means wearing a pro gun ownership t-shirt for example. I have gotten many handshakes and thankyou’s from other gun owners. Just because I wear a pro gun ownership t-shirt. It’s a great way to start a conversation.

5. Every graphic in this article should be 4-6 foot tall free standing cardboard signage used in gun stores across the country.

   WE need to promote the facts and the truth EVERYWHERE. From incorrectly calling magazines ‘clips’ to the difference between a 9mm Luger and a Luger pistol. WITHOUT sounding like grammar natzi’s.

   It isn’t just about taking someone to the range. Although that is always a good idea. But with all the fear (and there is much fear) of this last 12 months, more experienced individuals should be less aggressive and ease people into things.

   People truly do need to go into it with eyes wide open and understand that just because someone just bought their first firearm that does NOT make them a republican voting NRA member. Too many people expected that. There are MANY mixed messages in all this. Some of that is in the mechanism of social media.

   That said…
   It is every Americans right and responsibility to own and train with firearms. You do not have to be a hunter, a cop, a soldier, or of any particular race/gender/creed. You don’t have to be rich or highly educated. But if you own a gun and still vote Democrat then you are a hypocrite and should not expect favorable response from the average gun owner. You are responsible for you. If you look to the government for the answers to all of life’s problems then you have already failed, regardless of wether or not you own guns.

6. The empty holster campaign started in Texas was a success. Try it where you live.

7. … even with a Biden-Harris administration and an emboldened ATF aggressively on the march, Second Amendment groups can mount an effective political counter attack if they utilize one of the few positives that came our way in 2020: 8+ million new gun owners.

   I have to wonder how many of those 8+ million new firearm owners will adopt one of the following attitudes:

   1) Civilian disarmament only applies to the “little people” and will not affect me.

   2) Civilian disarmament will produce a net decrease on violent attacks in our society so I will do my part and turn-in my firearms when the time comes.

8. “Educating newcomers with FACTS is essential to …”

   And this is why our side is continually fighting an uphill battle in the war to restore our right to keep and bear arms.

   Newsflash: FACTS CARRY VERY LITTLE WEIGHT with something like 50% of our population because EMOTION DICTATES THEIR POSITION on controversies.

   Given that simple FACT, we should be crafting compelling emotional appeals as well as factual appeals for these 8+ million new firearm owners.

9. Not to beat a dead horse here but…

   You’re going to need to start looking at psychology if you want to win.

   Covid is proof that this shit works and with fancy numbers to reinforce the point.

   Gallup/Franklin Templeton recently did a survey on people’s knowledge of Covid. One of the questions is rather illuminating. They asked people what percentage of Covid cases result in hospitalization and gave people six options to choose from.

   The answers are staggeringly absurd.

   71% of Republicans overestimate the hospitalization rate, 28% by 10x or more. Independents do the same by 78%, 35% by 10x or more while 89% of Democrats overestimate the hospitalization rate with 41% overestimating it by 10x or more.

   Democrats got the answer correct 10% of the time to Independents 20% to Republicans 28%. On a multiple choice question for what is, arguably, the topic of the decade at this point.

   You can manipulate people for their own good. This is called education. You can also manipulate people for your own good. This is called “being an asshole”.

   Civil Rights, across the board, need a boost and it’s time to start employing the same weapons as our opponents or we will lose a fight from which we cannot recover.

   • strych9,

     Your comment here dovetails nicely with my comment above.

     And now for the $50,000 question: even if our side develops an over-the-top-fantastic psychological strategy with guaranteed-to-win factual AND emotional elements, do we have the resources to make it happen?

     As far as I can tell, any successful strategy requires a proverbial (and probably literal) MEGAPHONE which necessarily seems to require cooperation from most/all forms of information dissemination: e.g. legacy media and Internet based platforms. The trouble there: Far Left Progressives have an outright stranglehold on virtually ALL legacy media and Internet platforms — and they will NOT willingly participate in a strategy/campaign to restore our inalienable rights.

     Don’t get me wrong: I am not trying to be Debbie Downer and imply that there is no hope and therefore no point in proceeding. Rather, I am pragmatic and want to acknowledge a giant hurdle that we have to overcome in addition to developing a winning message.

     • Thinking inside the current box will get you nowhere.

       Technology isn’t your friend in this instance. The internet is poison and most people, regardless of ideological affiliation are r e t a r d e d. This includes, unfortunately, most gun owners and even a majority of 2A “activists”.

       The answer you seek is old school. Face to face.

       Educate yourself. Talk to your neighbors. Mentor the neighborhood kids. Simple shit like that.

       Example; Last year my neighbor down the road, mid 50’s same as his wife, caught me outside while I was rucking my giant pack and asked me about the camera system he noticed me installing the week before. He was nervous about goings on and wanted me thoughts on a camera system, which I gave him.

       He noted that he had no idea how to install such a system nor did he really have a decent set of tools for doing it. I said I could do it for him in a day or two once he had the gear and knew how he wanted it set up, and he agreed. While I was doing the work he asked me some questions about guns. It was a laughably ham-handed attempt to “feel me out”. Again, I told him [mostly] what I thought but I did it in a rather gentle way. He and his wife now own four guns, two sCarY rIfLeZ and two pistols. Now all I hear from the guy is about ammo prices.

       But he also talked to some of the other older folks in the neighborhood (we’re VERY young for this area, more than 20 years below the average age for homeownership) and suddenly a couple of them asked me about firearms while I was out. Dunno if they’ve done anything about getting them but I do know that they asked what my wife and I do, Now, because of that interaction, part of what we do is tutor a bunch of the kids around here in math, chemistry and biology because Zoom’s a shitty way to learn anything and AP chem went to shit but the exam didn’t change.

       So, I change the rifle on the wall in my office weekly. Because reasons, which I’m sure you, uncommon as you are, are smart enough to figure out.

       • Mega-kudos on the in-person interaction. I bet the green Mohawk weirded them out a bit… 🙂

       • It’s now multi colored and damn near 8″ when I put it up.

         Looks like a dead tie-dyed rat when I leave it down though.

         Pros, cons… something about “socially acceptable” blah, blah, blah.

     • The remarkable agility of the human mind is never more spectacularly demonstrated than when it comes to maintaining deeply held convictions in the face of overwhelming evidence. At this point, politics has become a highly dogmatic moral crusade, first and foremost. The left started this a generation or so ago and they’ve continuously ramped it up since then: pounding the drum at every possible opportunity that to be a good person is to be a leftist, and by contrast to be a bad person is to be a conservative. Consciously or otherwise, I believe a strong majority of current leftists are heavily influenced by this idea to one extent or another. Now, the vast majority of people in general very much want to be “good” and as such it’s quite a powerful motivator. So, how are you going to convince someone to come to our side when their entire self image and sense of morality is wrapped up in their political affiliation?

       There’s been a good deal of psychological research in the realm of how the brain reacts to new ideas, and its been damn near proven that, physiologically, presenting someone with an idea, opinion, or statistic that contradicts a fundamental belief of theirs actually triggers the fight or flight response, hence why so many people dig in so hard and become agitated and even hostile over seemingly minor points in debate.

       The combination of those two things is why we are doomed as a country. The relevant result of the second point I made is that in order to change someone’s mind, they, as an individual, have to be willing to make a conscious effort to actively resist their own mind’s reaction, and evaluate new information or ideas on their own merit. It goes deeper than just humility, the ability and willingness to do that requires confidence, intellectual integrity, self reflection, humility, critical thinking, and more.

       That’s a tall order just on its own, but when you ad the moral self image factor on top of it? Yeah, no. Here’s the bottom line: the humans mind has a lot of built in mechanisms that make it really difficult for someone to admit to being wrong and change their opinions, and those mechanisms require ACTIVE and DELIBERATE effort to overcome. But, why would someone want to even consider putting forth that much effort just to listen to bad people like us? The opinions of bad people are illegitimate, and even worse, if you so much as listen to them with an open mind that makes YOU a bad person by association.

       What does this mean for us? It means there’s an extremely specific criteria for the type of person who’s mind can be changed at all. The vast VAST majority on the left, including nearly all of those much vaunted new Democrat gun owners, simply cannot have their opinions changed. So, how many people are actually out there who *haven’t* internalized the morality aspect, are willing to fight their own minds to consider new ideas, AND either don’t already have strong political views they’ve reached on their own, or have moderate enough views that they could be swayed with the correct approach?

       At this point, in 2021, if there’s more than a half percent of the entire population who fits that criteria I’d be astonished. I reached that rather bleak conclusion years ago, and it’s shitty, so I’ve been trying really hard ever since then to see evidence that I’m wrong, that there are a lot more people like that who can be educated and convinced. I haven’t been successful

       • “So, how are you going to convince someone to come to our side when their entire self image and sense of morality is wrapped up in their political affiliation?”

         You don’t have to. Independents, who are not “wrapped up in a political affiliation” are the majority. Again, the target audience is not the group you argue against.

         You cannot reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into.

         If they emoted themselves into that position logic and argument will not dislodge them from it. The answer to moving them is Ford vs. Chevy vs. Subaru vs. Honda. You literally see it every day, so much so that you don’t even notice it any more.

         If they emoted themselves in you emote them out. If they were manipulated in you manipulate them out.

         I’ve explained this, at great length, over the last few years and I’m not going to type it all out again because it’s numerous pages long and no one will read it.

         People will either realize that Andrew Breitbart was right and act accordingly or they will not. Emo sells everything from movies and music to cars and perfume. It even sells calculus classes. But you can’t do it with freedom? Then you’re not trying.

         The first part of all of this is realizing that the problem isn’t “them”. It’s us. Once that realization is internalized actual change can start. Not before.

       • Red in CO,

         Excellent commentary and I agree completely with the accuracy and truth of what you said — which I have heard from other sources by the way.

         strych9 also has excellent analysis and commentary.

         At this point the key to success has to be an excellent strategy WITH EMOTION AT THE CENTER (hat tip to strych9) and true grass-roots, person-to-person activism (another hat tip to strych9).

       • Plus, guerrilla marketing is a thing. You don’t need the permission of progtard gatekeepers to get well-crafted messages with emotional hooks in front of people in unusual places where they’re receptive.

         It can be done, and it can work even better than mass distribution if you’re smart about it. Unfortunately, when it comes to communication and persuasion, gun people in general are dumb as rocks.

       • “At this point the key to success has to be an excellent strategy WITH EMOTION AT THE CENTER…”

         No, no, no. Moar caliber warz! That’s the ticket!

         Seriously though, you can use advertising techniques to manipulate people into knowingly bankrupting themselves with shit they don’t need and can’t afford… ​ruminate on this.

         Or meditate on some of the shit that’s gone down with Covid and how people have accepted it with open arms… then go read the actual scientific papers on it, or hell, just look up the FDA webpages for the “vaccines” (in quotes because, technically, they only meet half the definition). There are literally people trying to cut in line to be test subjects in the biggest megamouse experiment ever conducted because they got some feelz. They don’t even ASK what risks there might be. They don’t care that the entire normal process was thrown out the window and that exactly no one on the planet can tell them the risk set or how large those risks are. They literally ignore all reality and substitute their own. That’s how you have people getting arrested in the UK believing that they’re “free” as soon as they get their shot… while the government is now making it a law that the government may decide who may and who may not leave the UK.

         The fucked up part is that, based on polling stats, the US is even fucking dumber.

   • Exactly. The NRA and others need to get better marketing materials. The way some of the infographics in this article are worded can easily be flipped by the opposition.

     Extended Magazine???? Really? That is inviting the enemy to use your own materials against you. You are handing the “enemy” ammo to use against you. These are letting the opposition establish the rules and the narrative. We are agreeing to fight by their rules.

     All of these “features” they want to outlaw are safety features. So they want firearms to be even more dangerous. What about the children! These Gun Control people must be crazy and deranged to want to remove safety features from a product. Someone else could do better but it is an poor example that I hope illustrates a concept someone better than me could exploit.

     Stop letting them define the words. Get into the same game. Use facts but also use stories and emotion. Go on the offense rather than trying to defend a line. Defense does not win the war.

     These examples are too “boring” or “uptight”. They are dry. We are not the target demographic but we keep acting like we are. Why the hell are we advertising to ourselves? Stop using the colors that appeal to us. We are trying to appeal to those that are new and undecided. What packaging do they prefer? What would grab their attention? What would appeal to them? What are their challenges and problems? What keeps them up at night? What solution do we offer of value? Marketing 101.

     They have done such an effective job in vilifying the NRA that simply having the logo on it completely negates the message. Stop trying to advertise or fundraise in the message. The message is an idea, a value, a concept. It is FREEDOM, Liberty and justice for all. And all those things that get Americans worked up. The things that make people want to come to America for a better life. It is not a brand or a company. Stop treating it like that. I get that organizations need to fundraise but there is a forum that is appropriate for that. It is not appropriate and even counter productive to spread the message and ask for a donation at the same time. It seems disingenuous at best. Those are two different messages meant for two completely different audiences. It “muddies the waters”.

     It is about the right and freedom not the organization. Especially using a tarnished symbol or logo. The distrust has been planted already. Again, letting the opposition steer the message. They have forced the narrative to be that this is a fight with the NRA and the “Firearm Industry” when the fight is for YOUR freedom. I would think that the message that they are trying to take your freedom is a whole lot stronger than any other approach. Make it personal.

     Don’t try to be the old guy trying to be cool/hip. But at least make it interesting or eye catching. Tell a story to those people in the middle ground. Facts are boring and stale to most people. They tune out.

     A story follows an arc, builds up and gets the reader to empathize and relate to the character(s). Or even makes the recipient of the message the main character of the story. It becomes personal and emotional. The facts just reinforce or add the spice to it.

     This fight for our freedoms is personal. The outcome will affect every person in the U.S. negatively. The message and story should be personal.

     I do not have any of the answers and realize that it is easier said than done. But there are a lot of talented people out there on Freedoms side in this fight that can fight this better than any committee can.

     I am not anti-NRA (or any organization) but I am not their biggest fan either. I just do not believe these organizations are equipped to conduct an effective modern marketing campaign that is needed to fight the current battles. I hope someone proves me wrong on that.

     All of our 2nd Amendment organizations have great strengths and talents that are needed in the fight. Just not this aspect of it. Use a screwdriver on a screw and a hammer on a nail. But first recognize the challenge. Then you can determine the correct tool.

     Thank you if you have read this far. This is just me venting frustration that we have so many talented and smart people yet we are misapplying our resources. While the opposition seems, at times, to be much better at creating the narrative and we just react and defend. So we never make progress. We just slow the eventual defeat if we continue doing the same things over and over.

     Rant over.

     • I hear you. It’s incredibly frustrating.

       The other side has a whole ecosystem where skilled professionals volunteer their time, talents, and resources to the cause — or even get paid. Meanwhile, we have some guy in an NRA office somewhere who got voluntold because he “knows Photoshop” and a bunch of disorganized enthusiasts who mean well but are rank amateurs, and it shows.

       But it doesn’t have to be that way. I know there are talented people on our side, both in organizing people and in the nuts-and-bolts of effective persuasion, who could do the kind of thing we need. Hell, as a professional copywriter, I’m one of them. Why is it that there seems to be no place where somebody like me could join a team of creative people in making something cool happen for freedom’s sake?

       Maybe part of it’s just that I haven’t been looking. I can remedy that, at least.

     • “Stop letting them define the words.”

       I’ve been pointing this out for years. However, part of the problem is that many people on our side don’t actually know the meaning of the words themselves and so they cannot defend the language.

       Culture–> Politics. Language is part of culture because you cannot think without words.

       “May I call you a cab?”

       “Sure, and I’ll call you a cocksucker!”

       Yet we fall for it every damn time.

10. “once Biden pays off BLM/ANTIFA rioters and the leftist media stop manipulating the public with alarmist COVID stories.”

    Perhaps promoting wild conspiracy speculation isn’t the best tactic in trying to develop a unified approach?

    • You’re probably right. There’s absolutely no indication that the grievance hustlers, fearmongers, and cultural arsonists will ever stop.

      That said, this is a “strike while the iron is hot” moment that the people on our side who have money and influence seem to be unaware of. We don’t have to wait for the leftists to ban something before we act.

11. For the first time in my now 68 years I sincerely fear that the anti-gunners will win, especially if
    Biden is successful in voiding the filibuster.

    At my age, I don’t have that much life left. So, just try to take my guns…and you won’t like the response.

12. SAME O SAME O , , OK BAN SELL OF AR15 AND AK47 . YEAH DO IT .
    THE CRAZY PEOPLE WILL STILL FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO KILL WITH .

13. there is no “myth” that assault weapons are full auto firearms. but it is a “myth ” that they are trying to ban those. instead they ARE trying to ban the semi auto guns. we have to teach people that the guns they are trying to ban are NOT assault weapons

14. The “new approach” has already been happening. And the NRA has been left in the dust. The GOA and Pete Brownell have deep pockets or at least enough money to pay for a Black Guns Matter national bus tour.

    I guess Wayne needed more taylored suits? Priorties at the NRA.

    btw
    It was Breibart News who paid for a tour bus for Milo. That tour lasted over a year. It seems to me that it’s conservatives who are willing to step up with big ($$$) for really serious support for national 2A education.

    “Love For Country, Distrust For Government” video 3 min long
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G5iPVzCYS8

15. There may be some useful insights in the article, but NSSF and NRA are not staunch 2A supporters. NSSF is about sporting uses of firearms, not militia, tyrannical government, self-defense. NRA is not about uncompromising defense of the Second Amendment. Seems a combination of NSSF and NRA as an activist powerhouse for defending the Second Amendment might end up with FUDD as an acronym.

16. “Turning new gun owners into new gun voters starts with educating and engaging them regularly.”
    First one has to be engaged before education. Recognize the new gun owners as just that, “new”.
    Don’t pigeon hole them as a group. For sure, some will not change their politics and others won’t either if POTG refuse to engage and associate. Give the new gun owners a chance and time to make changes without them feeling forced. No one likes for religion etc to be forced upon them and new gun owners deserve the respect and fair treatment that we all appreciate when we venture into to new sports, hobbies etc

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