imported post
I'm putting this here instead of in the "WhyOpen Carry" section, because those threads seem to center around protection of self/family and recounting experiences when carrying was necessary in order to return home alive.
This is about hoplophobia - the irrational fear of firearms - and one way to go about providing a cure. It avoids all the "CC is better than OC/OC is better than CC" arguments and all the other detrius that usually gets in the way of figuring out what to do about those who react to us based on their own irrational fears.
If nothing else comes of copying this to OCDO, think of it as a pat on the back for your volunteer services to improve the mental health of those afflicted with hoplophobia.
stay safe.
skidmark
The original post discussing hoplophobia:
Many gun control advocates believe that only two types of folks have guns—cops and criminals. I grew up in New York City where this was and still is the prevailing view. People who believe that non-sworn citizens should not be allowed to own guns also tend to believe that anyone who owns a gun and is not a cop is a suspect. Thus, you often hear the sarcastic refrain from people whose lives have been threatened; "What should I do, buy a gun?" Most of these folks fear firearms due to ignorance and their socialization. However, there is a larger group of folks who have an irrational fear (aka, "phobia") of firearms (aka, "hoplophobia").
I have met and also treated many such folks. As a board certified licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years of clinical and academic experience, I think hoplophobia should be added as a diagnostic category to the Anxiety and Phobia Disorders section of the soon to be published revised edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—DSM-V.
Given my dual clinical and academic training as both a Behavioral and Psychoanalytic/Freudian psychologist and psychotherapist, I know that "hoplophobia" (fear of firearms or firearm phobia) is real. It is as real as arachnophobia (fear of spiders), ophidiophobia (snake phobia), dentophobia (fear of dentists), aichmophobia (needle phobia), androphobia (fear of men), cynophobia (dog phobia), entomophobia (fear of insects), and ideophobia (fear of ideas). However, hoplophobia may be more widespread than all of the above mentioned with the exception of ideophobia, and unlike most of these other phobias, hoplophobia pervades every level of our society and poses a serious threat to our Constitutional Second Amendment and First Amendment rights.
As a clinical psychologist, I know that what hoplophobics really fear is their own conscious and unconscious murderous rage. As with the psychodynamics of every true phobia, the hoplophobic person’s psychological defense mechanisms unconsciously project his or her murderous rage onto other people and objects. In this case, the objects of choice are firearms. Only some hoplophobics are insightful enough to recognize, as one pro-gun control physician stated that, "I don’t own a gun because if I did, I’d definitely shoot someone." He is right. He and others like him should definitely NOT own firearms. But, this is not a matter for legislation. It is about having good sense and perhaps, psychotherapy – because after all, that is what good psychotherapeutic treatment is all about.
The source for the hoplophobia post is my blog:
http://personaldefenseblog.com/2009/06/01/hoplophobia-is-a-real-problem/
The response:
One of the ways to reduce the incidence of hoplophobia in the general population is through desinsitization therapy - often referred to in the gun community as the Open Carry movement.
Let's agree for the moment to dispense with the various arguments regarding the tactical and defensive advantages/ disadvantages of Open Carry (OC) vs. Concealed Carry (CC).
When gun owners CC, the rest of the population does not know there are guns nearby, and thus the hoplophobes receive no input to stimulate their fear/anxiety and projection responses. The hoplophobes are reduced to waiting for a news article/broadcast to remind them that they fear what might happen if they were to come into close proximity of a firearm.
On the other hand, when gun owners OC hoplophobes are, if they happen to be observant enough to actually notice the openly carried handgun, provided with both the visual stimulus cues to begin their irrational response to the mere presence of a handgun, and the competing lack of offensive behavior on the part of the OCing individual and dangerous "behavior" on the part of the firearm. In other words, the OCing individual is not waving the thing about wildly, there are not shootouts over parking spaces or the last peanutbutter nut fudge brickle bar in the grocery store freezer section, and no blood is flowing in the streets.
Pity the poor hoplophobe who is confronted with the conflict between their beliefs and the reality around them. Since the mind cannot hold two diametrically opposed viewpoints simultaneously, one of them must give way. If the hoplophobe is repeatedly exposed to OC situations where guns are not "going off" by themselves and the gunowners are going about the same mundane activities as the hoplophobe, albeit with a handgun strapped to their waist, the ability to cling to the belief system that the mere presence of handguns is "bad" is both challenged and weakened at every exposure.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that hoplophobes who have experienced more than minimal desensitization exposure to OC may become so emboldened to actually speak to an OCing individual and request information about such subjects as the legality of firearm ownership, different types of firearms, how to obtain a firearm or firearm training, and the like.
Although no documentation has ever been offered for peer review, apocraphyl stories about about former hoplophobes who, after sufficient desensitization exposure, became actual firearm owners/users themselves. Should anyone know of such documentation, please contact the author with details.
The OP comments on the response:
Brilliant thesis. As a psychologist, I can say that your thesis is psychologically sound.
* edited to fix section title.
I'm putting this here instead of in the "WhyOpen Carry" section, because those threads seem to center around protection of self/family and recounting experiences when carrying was necessary in order to return home alive.
This is about hoplophobia - the irrational fear of firearms - and one way to go about providing a cure. It avoids all the "CC is better than OC/OC is better than CC" arguments and all the other detrius that usually gets in the way of figuring out what to do about those who react to us based on their own irrational fears.
If nothing else comes of copying this to OCDO, think of it as a pat on the back for your volunteer services to improve the mental health of those afflicted with hoplophobia.
stay safe.
skidmark
The original post discussing hoplophobia:
Many gun control advocates believe that only two types of folks have guns—cops and criminals. I grew up in New York City where this was and still is the prevailing view. People who believe that non-sworn citizens should not be allowed to own guns also tend to believe that anyone who owns a gun and is not a cop is a suspect. Thus, you often hear the sarcastic refrain from people whose lives have been threatened; "What should I do, buy a gun?" Most of these folks fear firearms due to ignorance and their socialization. However, there is a larger group of folks who have an irrational fear (aka, "phobia") of firearms (aka, "hoplophobia").
I have met and also treated many such folks. As a board certified licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years of clinical and academic experience, I think hoplophobia should be added as a diagnostic category to the Anxiety and Phobia Disorders section of the soon to be published revised edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—DSM-V.
Given my dual clinical and academic training as both a Behavioral and Psychoanalytic/Freudian psychologist and psychotherapist, I know that "hoplophobia" (fear of firearms or firearm phobia) is real. It is as real as arachnophobia (fear of spiders), ophidiophobia (snake phobia), dentophobia (fear of dentists), aichmophobia (needle phobia), androphobia (fear of men), cynophobia (dog phobia), entomophobia (fear of insects), and ideophobia (fear of ideas). However, hoplophobia may be more widespread than all of the above mentioned with the exception of ideophobia, and unlike most of these other phobias, hoplophobia pervades every level of our society and poses a serious threat to our Constitutional Second Amendment and First Amendment rights.
As a clinical psychologist, I know that what hoplophobics really fear is their own conscious and unconscious murderous rage. As with the psychodynamics of every true phobia, the hoplophobic person’s psychological defense mechanisms unconsciously project his or her murderous rage onto other people and objects. In this case, the objects of choice are firearms. Only some hoplophobics are insightful enough to recognize, as one pro-gun control physician stated that, "I don’t own a gun because if I did, I’d definitely shoot someone." He is right. He and others like him should definitely NOT own firearms. But, this is not a matter for legislation. It is about having good sense and perhaps, psychotherapy – because after all, that is what good psychotherapeutic treatment is all about.
The source for the hoplophobia post is my blog:
http://personaldefenseblog.com/2009/06/01/hoplophobia-is-a-real-problem/
The response:
One of the ways to reduce the incidence of hoplophobia in the general population is through desinsitization therapy - often referred to in the gun community as the Open Carry movement.
Let's agree for the moment to dispense with the various arguments regarding the tactical and defensive advantages/ disadvantages of Open Carry (OC) vs. Concealed Carry (CC).
When gun owners CC, the rest of the population does not know there are guns nearby, and thus the hoplophobes receive no input to stimulate their fear/anxiety and projection responses. The hoplophobes are reduced to waiting for a news article/broadcast to remind them that they fear what might happen if they were to come into close proximity of a firearm.
On the other hand, when gun owners OC hoplophobes are, if they happen to be observant enough to actually notice the openly carried handgun, provided with both the visual stimulus cues to begin their irrational response to the mere presence of a handgun, and the competing lack of offensive behavior on the part of the OCing individual and dangerous "behavior" on the part of the firearm. In other words, the OCing individual is not waving the thing about wildly, there are not shootouts over parking spaces or the last peanutbutter nut fudge brickle bar in the grocery store freezer section, and no blood is flowing in the streets.
Pity the poor hoplophobe who is confronted with the conflict between their beliefs and the reality around them. Since the mind cannot hold two diametrically opposed viewpoints simultaneously, one of them must give way. If the hoplophobe is repeatedly exposed to OC situations where guns are not "going off" by themselves and the gunowners are going about the same mundane activities as the hoplophobe, albeit with a handgun strapped to their waist, the ability to cling to the belief system that the mere presence of handguns is "bad" is both challenged and weakened at every exposure.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that hoplophobes who have experienced more than minimal desensitization exposure to OC may become so emboldened to actually speak to an OCing individual and request information about such subjects as the legality of firearm ownership, different types of firearms, how to obtain a firearm or firearm training, and the like.
Although no documentation has ever been offered for peer review, apocraphyl stories about about former hoplophobes who, after sufficient desensitization exposure, became actual firearm owners/users themselves. Should anyone know of such documentation, please contact the author with details.
The OP comments on the response:
Brilliant thesis. As a psychologist, I can say that your thesis is psychologically sound.
* edited to fix section title.
