There's a thread here at The Firing Line from a guy in New York who is fraught with worry over how to subliminally let someone else know that they have set off his NRA-dar, and that he, too, is a closeted firearms owner.
Has it gotten that bad in some parts of the country? Sitting there, worried about how to covertly let someone know that you, too, enjoy a frickin' Constitutionally protected natural right? Are there really places where it is more socially acceptable to say "Hey, I noticed you're wearing a tee shirt that says 'I bugger farm animals' and I just want to let you know that I, too, enjoy farm animal buggering," than it is to say "Hey, where do you go hunting?"
What kind of Bizzarro America have I stumbled into?
(By the way, if you notice my "Coal Creek Armory: Automatics For The People" bumper sticker, you may take that as a sign that it's safe to chat me up about shootin' irons. Not that that's too big of a problem here in Tennessee. Yet.)
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10 comments:
That is definitely the suck.
Hi Tam,
Yosemite Sam (Bill) and I moved to Massachusetts from Texas. We now live in New Hampshire mainly because of gun issues.
When people where I work found out I owned guns, there was a definite chill in the air.
Talking to them about a gun purchase, or the trap shooting I did over the weekend, or the bullseye trophy I won this month for is not a good idea. So, I don't share that part of my life with them, yet they want to talk to me about the latest handgun murder and in general try to convince me to improve my karma by getting rid of my guns.
I'll never understand these people. Like you said--bizarro America.
Denise
Run into that attitude now and then; it's usually from someone who is either from the Northeastern states, or California. Here in Utah, ducks, elk, and mule deer (we don't have any whitetails) are heavily hunted. The day before the deer hunt is practically a state holiday.
Denise, just keep a list of stories about stabbings and ask them if they're ready to give up their kitchen knives.
"NRA-dar"?
THERE's a term that's going into my lexicon!
Yes, it is really like that in some parts of the country. I have moved from the middle of PA, to near Philly. Currently, I can mention firearms to exactly 2 co-workers without getting either a look of consternation and fear, or a condescending lecture. Of course, those who would give a condescending lecture used to get a non-heated, fact-based argument in return, however, I have learned that facts cannot trump bigotry, or an unearned feeling of 'I-am-right-and-you-are-wrong' superiority, and also that my time is too valuable to argue with the unreasonable.
Joe_M
You'd think it would be bad in DC, but it's not. Not in my experience, anyhow.
I tell almost everyone I know that I'm a gun owner, gunsmith, and competitive shooter. Clients in DC proper, co-workers, friends. Reactions have ranged from polite disinterest, to "Wow that's cool!" to requests to go to the range. I've never, not once, received a negative reaction.
Of course, it probably helps that I'm fairly clean-cut, polite, friendly, and remarkably good-looking. :D
Probably posted this before: A few years ago, several of us in the office (Denver, CO) were talking about taking a day at the range - a little trap shooting and some .22 practice - with some "newbees" who'd never been shooting. Didn't pan out, as these things happen. About 2 months later, I'm in HR, about to be fired, because "someone" remembered me talking about getting a gun and shooting anyone who got between me and my office. The HR person was a New Yorker (as I'd once been) who was terrified of those evil guns. Took several days to get straightened out - no witnesses, the accuser didn't remember any real details, couldn't quote anything - and had just been to a "PC-orientation" meeting just before filing the complaint. Oh, and I was told never to do it again. I'm now retired. OldeForce
Tam,
Massachusetts is REALLY bad in that regard. Just today a lady in our office who is from Greece said she is getting her US citizenship soon.
I mentioned some of the benifets of being a citizen, voting, and gun ownership immediately came to mind.
You should have seen the looks I got.
Most MA residents I have met are quite fearfull of any firearm, Hoplophobia is rampant here.
Weird.
1894C
Uxbridge MA
I live in a college town and the environment is very anti-gun. I find myself in the closet.
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