....
it is an attitude that i just don't understand. is it jealousy, fear, or just conditioning?
i usually get the answer (if i get one at all) is the very liberal one "i don't know, i just Feel that way". i could understand if the person said, that their whole family was wiped out. although, i would think that would make them want to carry.
I'd suggest conditioning in the case of your sister.
For way too long the standard indoctrination is that GUNZ ARE BAD and only bad people haz gunz, except for the cops, of course, because they are the only ones professional enough and trained enough to carry them without causing mayhem. Most folks who are not involved with guns as some part of their life do not bother to think about the issue at all, and seem to be willing to go along with whatever message they hear the most. Folks that are not involved with guns as a part of their daily life (yes, I am talking about hunters here) seem to only be worried that
their use of guns (which are usually shotguns and rifles, not handguns) might be impacted, and see the advocacy and "hard line" insistence on respect for all gun rigfhts as somehow threatening
their use of guns. (Note I do not mention rights but merely use?)
Many folks who have been the victims of violence at the hands of someone who used a gun to commit that violence focus on the gun instead of the VCA*. That seems to be a part of the GUNZ ARE BAD message, as opposed to victims of drunk drivers focusing on the driver instead of the motor vehicle. But then if there was a CARZ ARE BAD metamessage going around how would we all get to the convenience store to buy our lottery tickets? See, we all
need cars, but only a few of us understand that we need guns too. (BTW - try telling a cop they do not need their handgun. Even with everything else on their batbelt they will tell you that they in fact need their handgun.)
Some people, like Colin Goddard, who have been victims of VCAs were already indoctrinated to blame the instrument and not the person. Others, like Charl van Wyk (of the St. James Church massacre in South Africa) understand that the fault is with the person who offers violence and not the method used. They also realize that violence can only be countered by equal or greater violence. Vam Wyck became an advocate not only for the right to be armed but for churches to become proactive in setting up security programs using armed church members. You can ask your sister how many church massacres were prevented by anti-gun laws as opposed to how many were prevented by armed resistance. She might know the answer but will not be happy in having to tell it to you.
As cold and heartless as it may sound, what we may need to turn around the perception of the majority is a few more incidents of police either not responding to 911 calls or ariving too late to do anything but write up a report of how the victm died. Get folks to understand on a gut level that the cops cannot be there to protect them and that they need to be on at least an equal footing with the VCA in terms of armament and we can move from GUNZ ARE BAD to
GUNS SAVE LIVES as the default thought. It seems to be the way folks respond - remember the rush on gun stores during the Rodney King riots in LA? or the rush in Connecticutt after the Petit family murders? or the -- well, I could go on and on and on. But those were all local reactions. It may take a national epidemic to mobilize the general population. Oh, wait! Isn't that pretty much what's happening right now? It's just not being publicized as being that epidemic.
My gun is like the spare tire in my car. I hope I never have to use it, and if I do hope that AAA will come out and do the dirty work for me. But if I cannot wait for AAA to get there I have the tools necessary to get me back on the road, and I know how to use them. Ask your sister if she does.
stay safe.
* VCA, for those that are not familiar with the term = Violent Criminal Actor.