Do we really accomplish anything with non-gunowners whose opinions we'd like to reshape by pretending to be dumb? I'm not buying it. We have facts on our side. We're actively showing them that guns are merely inanimate objects and tools... showing them that hammers killed more people last year than so-called Assault Rifles. And I truly don't believe the demographic has changed all that dramatically since Clinton and the Liberal Democrats got their asses handed to them in the 1994 mid-terms. They still can't make a move without exploiting the emotions of people grieving dead children. If anyone here really wants to believe the propaganda that gun ownership by household is down 15% or that 80% of NRA members support Universal Backround Checks, I've got some swamp land for sale... mineral rights not included.
Keith, I have no intention of arguing about statistics with you, or anyone. We both know they say what the person producing them wants. And who said anything about playing dumb. I'm talking about adding an element to the argument that I think has been missing.
So I ask you this question. If the strategies and tactics of the NRA and the gun owning public have been as successful as you suggest, why is it even possible that the antis can use the death of children to advance their cause? If they weren't exploiting an underlying unease about firearms the larger population would rise up in revulsion at their crass opportunism.
What I'm talking about is figuring out how to change public perception of non gun owners to the default position that guns are good. Not the current default position held by non gun owners that guns are bad. I don't think that will happen with the current efforts.
I'm not complaining about all the good hard work done by the NRA in the past nor am I suggesting they stop. There is a reason they are considered the most powerful lobby in Washington. But to a large degree, they focus on Washington. What would happen if they used Madison Avenue to focus on the average Californian. What if they focus on making non gun owners feel okay about guns, even though they don't own any and don't intend to.
We don't need to change the minds of gun owners. We need to change the minds of the people who don't now and won't be in the future owning guns.
Remember, there is nothing wrong with the personal choice NOT to own guns, just as there is nothing wrong with owning them. Lots of room for both views. What we need to change is the idea that those who don't own guns need to take our guns away from us.
We won't be achieving that by facts alone. We won't achieve it by making them feel stupid. We won't achieve it by scaring them. And we won't achieve it by insulting them.
We may achieve it by giving them something positive they can believe in.
