imported post
TatankaGap wrote:
great article Dave. What can be done to mitigate this kind of bigotry - it goes to the heart of the public's perception and the politician's perceptions -
any suggestions?
One does not "mitigate" this sort of bigotry.
At best, we can ignore them, continue to work proactively with local police agencies, keep our eye on the ball so far as court rulings, and above all, never, EVER behave in a manner that can be construed as "in your face."
The law is on our side "most of the time." And I tossed that caveat in because, as we all know, unless we suffer some sort of monumental case of denial, there are folks in the ranks who go out of their way to call attention to themselves and the fact that they're packing.
Don't do that. When you carry, go about your business, tend to your own business and try to fly pretty much below anybody's radar.
There is a learning curve and most of the public is still behind it in terms of OC and even CC. How many years did it take for minorities to overcome civil rights abuses? In some places, they're still working on it.
Gun toters are still in the minority, in the public's perception. Be patient, polite and "professional."
Remember, the anti-gunners hate us for really no good reason. Perhaps it is a conformity issue, or they simply associate firearms with something or someone bad.
Don't confirm their biases.