Hoplophobes (those who fear weapons) do have that projection thing down pretty well.
Many of them truly believe that a mere citizen carrier of a firearm is a hair away from snapping and blowing everyone away in sight.
I'm not kidding. Some anti-gunners have actually admitted they are glad they don't carry a gun themselves for fear that they might use it to shoot someone in a fit of anger one day.
You know, like when THEY snap.
This emotional irrationality totally justifies their bigotry against those who carry a firearm for
self-protection. All the while in their minds they know they are hypocrites for hoping they never have to face an armed attacker while unarmed.
The Nitty-Gritty
It's easy for them to be lofty and idealistic when violence is a hypothetical discussion. Let it get real, such as when their life is suddenly threatened by an armed rapist or robber, then they wish they had a gun in their hand.
This has been proven over and over when new gun carriers confess that in the past they had been against owning or carrying a gun, but after surviving a frightening experience as a crime victim, they determined it would never happen again.
Criminals Would Behave Without Guns
The hoplophobe's view is the "reasonable one" (especially when backed up with "statistics"), hence they view with suspicion (and hatred and fear) anyone with the polar opposite view - that any free, sane, adult citizen should have the right to fight back with their own firearm.
This imagined high ground is something they can stand on while puffing out their chest to prove their "bravery" of deliberately going about in public unarmed, while whistling in the dark and hoping that someone other than them becomes a victim of crime if they ever have to pass through a "rough area of the neighborhood".
They believe if they can get the government to disarm the people at gun-point (government guns are good in their eyes), "gun crime" will disappear and they won't have to pretend anymore. They can stop their whistling in the dark - because there will then be no more assaults, rapes, robberies, or murders.
Without guns, criminals wouldn't resort to knives, clubs, swords, bats, fists, feet, ganging up on victims using superior numbers, or use crude guns that can easily be made at home. Riiiight.
Those who believe criminals couldn't still obtain modern guns even after mass confiscation are living in la-la land. And, the criminal underworld that would thrive in a society of helpless citizens would be enormous. There wouldn't be near enough tax dollars to hire enough police to try and protect us all.
A Grownup Is An Adult - Not Necessarily The Other Way Around
A firearm is a powerful tool that requires a mature person to handle responsibly. Since irrational fear is a sign of immaturity, hoplophobes naturally don't trust themselves to touch one. They justify their fear by demonizing firearms, and by association anyone that carries one, unless of course that person happens to have some type of government issued badge.
Childish Disconnect Ahead
How ironic that when it comes to carrying guns, the police are revered as the only ones special enough to carry them, but the same leftists that assign such trust on the one hand demonize the police on the other, especially when police find themselves in a situation where they feel they had to use their firearm in defense of themselves or others.
To be fair, not all hoplophobes are leftists. Those that aren't are probably among the ones we have the best hope of convincing with a little education, that even deadly weapons can safely be used by ordinary citizens as effective tools to preserve innocent lives from the predators that would take them.
Sometimes It's Downright Good To Be Dangerous
When someone dangerous is trying to harm you, you had better want to be as dangerous as you need to be in order to save your life and those of your loved ones. That may be your only chance.
We Didn't Think It Could Happen Here! Well, Duh!
When violent crime happens in a place where it is not expected, hoplophobes are utterly shocked, but quickly calm down after the perpetrator is captured or killed, as if there isn't another one out there ready to strike at another unexpected time and place.
We always hear on TV or read in the paper where someone in their neighborhood states, "We never thought anything like this could happen here - this is a safe neighborhood!"
That very fact is comforting to them later on when the shock wears off. It confirms in their mind that since crime is not always happening everywhere all the time, that its relative rarity is proof that no one seriously needs to carry a gun everywhere they go.
The More People Carry - The Less Crime
Fact: States that have restored firearm carry rights to their citizens have had their crime rates go down, and if not down in some states, at least they stay flat. Allowing people to carry a gun in more places has never been shown to cause more crime.
This Is Reality, Not Fantasy Land
For high crime areas of a city or town, hoplophobes give their only and obvious (to them) solution to someone considering carrying a weapon - "just don't go there!", as if that's all anyone needs to do. Well pardon us; there may be some places we do have to go that are not guarded by fairies riding around on winged unicorns spreading happy dust.
And so those of us who do make it a habit to be armed daily as we go about our business in public are mocked with such non sequiturs as:
"Why do need to carry a gun in a park? Afraid the squirrels will throw their nuts at you?"
"Why do you need to carry a gun in a supermarket? Afraid you'll be a-salted?"
Show them news reports of robberies, rapes, or murders that have happened in some of those beautiful, safe places and they will simply be brushed off as isolated events. Further "evidence" to them that crime is not a serious reason to carry a pistol every day.
Should they be up in years, they will tell you they've never needed a gun in their 65 years, so why should they need one now. And if they haven't needed one, you certainly don't either, now or ever. All you need to do is follow their advice to always travel about in safe places and lock your doors at night.
Not Everyone Is So Lucky
The fortunate (and probably lucky) ones that have lived a long life unarmed and unharmed have no business counseling others to eschew weapons as they have, unless their crystal ball can accurately predict that others will have the same outcome.
To be fair, they are not completely irrational when they opine on their years of never having been a victim of violent crime. It's actually human nature to expect peace and order each succeeding tomorrow if that's all that's ever been experienced. We tend to live our lives in our own little comfort bubble, believing that since all is well, all will be well...
Until that bubble is rudely and unexpectedly burst. Violent crime is not only brutal - it often takes its victims by surprise by the speed with which it strikes.
Hoplophobes know this, and reason that even if they were armed, they would not be able to truly protect themselves. And if they can't, then foolish us, we can't either.
Knowledge Is A Good Thing
This is where again, a little education can go a long way. Carriers of weapons tend to pay more attention to their surroundings - it's called situational awareness. While it can still happen, we are less likely to be taken by surprise. We also go to the shooting range, and practice drawing our firearm either from concealment or from an open-carry holster. Some even take advanced training courses.
There are many documented cases of would-be crime victims using their firearms, sometimes against multiple attackers, with great results. Google is your research assistant, so do your research. Look up Saint James Church Massacre. One man with one revolver saved lives during a coordinated terrorist attack, going up against four heavily armed terrorists.
A Gun Improves Your Chances Of Not Getting Hurt
It is true that a gun is an equalizer. In the hand of one who is fighting for his or her life, it is often more than an equalizer. Even multiple armed criminals tend to flee when being shot at. by one person. They had staked out what they had hoped was an easy, unarmed victim. Then it became too much work for them to well, work for it. They turn tail, regroup, and later seek out easier prey.
The defenders are then poo-pooed for unnecessarily fighting back. If only they had submitted to the criminals' demands, nothing would have happened.
To be fair, there are probably more cases where this is true than not. However, how do you know you can trust the benevolence of your armed robber to leave witnesses alive? Far too many have offered zero resistance, giving it all up, and were still shot dead as they lay on the floor. I might not survive an armed criminal one day, but I can think of a better way of dying than lying on the floor or kneeling on my knees, I assure you.
Even if the criminal lets you live, he may still give you a serious gash in your skull with his gun wielded as a club for good measure, to make sure you know he's serious that you don't call the police for awhile.
Is a lifetime of headaches, double-vision, or trouble walking a straight line worth the compliance? I'd rather he have a freshly fired bullet and I have my head with no artificial crease in it.
Too Much Of A Demand To Comply With
Some years ago Meredith Emerson used all her martial arts skill and was still subdued and later killed by Gary Hilton after being attacked while hiking in the North Georgia mountains. I have zero reason to believe she was a hoplophobe, but for whatever reason she was not armed with a gun. I wish she had been.
I have nothing against martial arts, but if you can only have one or the other, choose a gun.
Who in their right mind tells women that have suffered rape not to carry a gun to guard against any possible future attacks, and at the same time profess they are for "women's rights"?
How politicians get away with stating this garbage boggles the mind.
Getting The Message?
Sadly, most hoplophobes will not be convinced by anything I've presented here. A few may be won over on a case by case basis if they happen to befriend a gun carrier that doesn't appear to be too scary, who takes them to the range and lets them fire a handgun for the first time. Or maybe even an AR-15 rifle.
Did you know that an AR-15 rifle has less "kick" than most pistols? And certainly far less than a 12-gauge shotgun.
The "AR" Stands For Armalite
A little knowledge and experience can bolster confidence in one's abilities. The thought that one just might not have to ever be harmed as a crime victim could then take bloom.
Take It Away, Waylon!
Mamas and daddies, don't let your babies grow up to be hoplophobes. Teach them gun safety, how to shoot, and that when they get of age they can carry a firearm as a tool of self-defense. It's what grownups do.
