Inspired by Fate of Destinee’s YouTube video about gender inequality in the gun world, I have decided to indulge in my own rant today. My rant doesn’t have anything to do with being a woman, but it has everything to do with stereotyping and passing snap judgements on others.
Let me start off by telling you a little story. This is a story about Twitter. When I first created a Twitter account for RebeccaGuns, I was so excited to find all of the cool gun people I could follow. There were so many of them! And they were all into guns! I thought I had found the happiest place ever. And I would say, by and large, I have overwhelmingly positive interactions with other gun people on the interwebz. However, I started to notice that some days my Twitter feed was full of posts that just seem designed to put other groups of people down. Now I’m not talking about other groups of people like the The Charles Manson Liberation Society or Proud Pedophiles of America. I’m just talking about other groups that may practice a different religion, subscribe to an alternate political point of view or have been born some other race. When I read these posts, I was angry. I still am. I’m angry because this is not an accurate representation of the gun community, and frankly, it’s often just hate mongering. I have thought about breaking up with Twitter, so I don’t have to be so angry. But, the thing is, there are a lot of people out there who post really interesting, informative content about firearms which I very much enjoy reading. So instead, I just click “Unfollow” and I don’t have to be exposed to the haters hatin’ anymore. Problem solved. If only there were such a thing in real life.
Please don’t misunderstand me. If you are into being a Republican or a Democrat, or believing in Jesus Christ or the Prophet Muhammad, I think that is excellent. It’s good to be passionate about the things you believe in. But there is absolutely no reason to use your gun related social media platforms to bash opposing points of view.
Let me suggest that it might behoove us all to remember why we own guns in the first place. My understanding is that we are a community of people who believe that all of our citizens have the right to defend themselves and their families, regardless of race, politics, sexual orientation or religion. And this right is what keeps us free. If we belittle and blame others who don’t agree with all of the same things we believe, we are undermining the very spirit of the principals that allow us to own guns in the first place.
Pejorative statements about “others” erode solidarity within the community, as well as paint us in a pretty unflattering light to the rest of the world. I believe that the more folks we can get involved in the shooting sports, and interested in concealed carry, the safer our country will be, both from criminals and those in power who seek to exploit and manipulate the masses. And from my vantage point, it seems like we are well on the way to having a diverse and rapidly expanding firearms community. So NOW IS THE TIME to leave behind all of those antiquated ideas about which political party or religion is most worthy of gun ownership. Because we all are. Every last able-bodied, sound-minded one of us is entitled by the Constitution to the right to bear arms. The more of us there are, the harder it will be for Congress or the President to push us around.
So let’s open our arms to the liberals, vegans, Muslims, Jews, blacks, Latinos, gays, women, etc, etc. Because this is how we grow. This is how we evolve. This is how we make sure that our country doesn’t fall apart around us. If we are too busy quibbling amongst ourselves over superficial differences, we will miss this opportunity to strengthen our numbers and come together as a group who welcomes all freedom-loving individuals.
Amen, sista.
You lost me at “vegans”. Just kidding. That is a very well done post. I will try harder to work on the positive and not get mired down by the smaller differences. Thanks for writing this.
Erik, you’re awesome. You’ve single-handedly restored my faith in humanity. Thanks for the kind words
As I’ve said before, “I’ve never seen a gun I didn’t like, but that doesn’t mean I’ll own any gun.”… If you have a gun… and as long as it’s not pointed at me… I’d love to know you. I don’t care how you pray, what team you root for, or which brand you think is best. Guns and shooting have been the common thread that has allowed me to meet, teach, and/or become friends with so many folks… good stuff RebeccaGuns…
Dann in Ohio
Have to disagree a bit with your point. There is the correct philosophy (i.e. belief in limited government, Enumerated Powers and individual liberty) and the INCORRECT philosophy (i.e. “living constitution”, collective ‘rights’ over individual ones, government has a role in EVERYTHING. It is entirely appropriate to bash and bludgeon the inccorect philosophy (and those who espouse it) because it is in fatal enmity with individual liberty. As Goldwater said so eloquently, “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.”
I guess it’s my turn to disagree with you, Barry. While bashing ideas that you don’t agree with (especially if those ideas infringe on your personal freedoms) is your right, bashing the people who have them is unproductive and misplaced. Even more so, if you are trying to make the case that it is justified to disparage an entire group of people for ideas that some may espouse.
Rebecca, with all due respect, if their ideas involve your enslavement, those ideas and the people who espouse them deserve no consideration whatsoever.
At least, in my opinion.
I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
Is it still okay to mention reality? Like the fact that a group that comprises <7% of the population is responsible for more than 50% of all murders – with the preferred weapons being firearms? When liberals talk about banning guns, I love to slip them the fact that the average black male is 16 times more likely to commit murder than a random gun is to be used to commit murder. Well now, see, that's racist, because all they want to do is ban guns, and I'm implying that the average gun is 16 times safer than the average black male. Damn those inconvenient facts!
@BambiB,
You’re not racist for pointing out the TRUTH. Guns by themselves do not kill. They have to have an “agent”, someone to pull the trigger.
I’m bewmused everytime I hear of someone in the inner city, who lost their life to “guun violence”. As if the gun killed someone by its lonesome.
For crissakes, that’s like saying Jewish inmates at Dachau, Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Mauthausen lost their lives to “oven violence” or “shower violence”.
I agree. I don’t think it’s racist to acknowledge that most inner-city gun related violence is committed by young, black men. I do think it is mostly gang and drug related issues, not necessarily random crimes against citizens. And I am sure that even if you banned guns, violent crimes would still occur.
Well said, and rightly so. The divisive, spiteful atmosphere being fostered among differently focused groups is tearing America apart. We are meant to celebrate our differences as we embrace our unity. At least I think that’s what the Founding Fathers intended….
Good points. Too many gun rights supporters equate gun rights with being in the right wing of American politics, but that’s damaging to our cause. Gun ownership is about personal freedom and responsibility, and those aren’t Republican or Democratic ideas exclusively. They are basic American ideas.
We also need to remember that many elections are decided by narrow margins, and a lot of legislatures are equally divided. The best way to secure our rights is to build a broad coalition of support.