"But if it saves just one life"

[RVTECH]

I have a cousin who is a 'moderate', is a gun owner but believes in some form of restrictions or control of 'unnecessary' guns such as ARs, AKs high cap this and that, you get it. He KNOWS there is no chance of true 'control' as he understands the basics IE. criminals will ALWAYS have guns but his standard answer is the title of this thread. That is his contention. Anybody have a rational response to this?

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[mrblond]

Ask him if he would be happy with a pack of homies breaking into his house and all he has to defend himself is his hunting rifle. while said homies have AKs or other firearms with their normal mags. Tell him that if he loves his family he will want to at least be on equal footing with the crack head trying to kill him and his family.

 

[Rix]

Under that logic we must ban cars and alcohol. Outright ban.
Cigarettes too.
And baseball bats
And knives
And coconut trees.
And
And
And

 

[Blitzkrieg]

You can't fix stupid.. move on

 

[DMax]

Under that logic we must ban cars and alcohol. Outright ban.
Cigarettes too.
And baseball bats
And knives
And coconut trees.
And
And
And

Under utopia rule its all coming

 

[rufus]

Once you start, where does it end?

For example, if it saves just one life, why not restrict driving privileges to only people between the ages of 21 to 60. Raise the drinking age to 30, ban sharp knives, ad infinitum.

 

[Dunerunner]

Everyone should have a gun to defend themselves and their property from armed criminals. If it saved just one life, it would be worth it!

The 2A was written to protect us from and give us the ability to oppose an oppressive government, not for duck hunting!! Hunting is just a spin off benefit!

 

[fuhr52]

I have a cousin who is a 'moderate', is a gun owner but believes in some form of restrictions or control of 'unnecessary' guns such as ARs, AKs high cap this and that, you get it. He KNOWS there is no chance of true 'control' as he understands the basics IE. criminals will ALWAYS have guns but his standard answer is the title of this thread. That is his contention. Anybody have a rational response to this?

Who is it that's going to define what is necessary and what isn't? If you are going to throw words like "necessary and common sense gun laws", these words must be defined.

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

If the, "why don't we require all pedestrians to wear bike helmets, that would save a lot of lives?" analogy doesn't work, then you need to educate him on recent history. Despotic regimes and "benevolent" dictatorships etc. An entertaining film I recently saw on Netflix called "BARBARA" comes to mind. Rural East Germany in the 80s., No over the top torture or violence, just dreary existence under communist control. Where you live, work and what you are allowed to talk about strictly controlled by the Stazi. People who comply have an O.K. life, but don't stand out or think different or you disappear to a work camp.
A better explanation as to why we need to have these "unnecessary" guns doesn't exist.
Keep working on your cousin, at least he is willing to have a conversation, a lot of the Libs shut down or talk over all dissenting views to theirs. Good luck!

 

[oknow]

Just tell him the guns are there to save any child/life that is around a legal gun owner. Not just one child/life.

 

[U201491]

More lives are saved with them than without.........

 

[3MTA3]

Confrontation will not change his mind. You have to find common ground and work from there. I find the best tactic in conflict resolution is to get each side pointing the in the same direction and not at each other. Your cousin likely took time to form this opinion, and it will take time to get him to understand yours. Is it possible to take him shooting and introduce him to the "black guns" he fears?

 

[simon99]

I'm baffled when someone gives an inanimate object a consciousness.....I'm not trying to sound disrespectful, but at what point do you have to question the person and their intelligence or lack thereof? I'm a realist, so I understand that unfortunate things happen to good people every day through no fault of their own. However, there comes a point when you have to choose freedom or slavery to a system that wants to control every aspect of your being.

 

[3MTA3]

Simon, there are several different personality types. As a realist, it is obvious to you that it's the person and not the tool that is responsible. its also easier than many others for you to see through all the smokescreens to at least catch a glimpse of reality. For non-realists it is much harder to see and understand these things. To make the point we need to reach out to them, on their own communication terms and emotional understanding. Its a bit hard to understand, but it takes all types for civilization to work. It is the responsibility of the objectively driven to lead the emotionally driven on certain things, and vice-versa.

 

[308]

I have a cousin who is a 'moderate', is a gun owner but believes in some form of restrictions or control of 'unnecessary' guns such as ARs, AKs high cap this and that...

Is he the owner of The Gun Room?

 

[simon99]

Simon, there are several different personality types. As a realist, it is obvious to you that it's the person and not the tool that is responsible. its also easier than many others for you to see through all the smokescreens to at least catch a glimpse of reality. For non-realists it is much harder to see and understand these things. To make the point we need to reach out to them, on their own communication terms and emotional understanding. Its a bit hard to understand, but it takes all types for civilization to work. It is the responsibility of the objectively driven to lead the emotionally driven on certain things, and vice-versa.

I agree.
I have found in life that there are two types of people, emotional and analytical. Its pretty obvious which one is better at selling newspapers and spinning yarns. I guess the question is, who do we find a balance?

 

[3MTA3]

Is he the owner of The Gun Room?

That's a hoot - back in the 80's I went in and asked him if he had any Mini-14's. I got lectured for about a half hour. Never went back, used to do a lot of business there prior to that.

 

[3MTA3]

I agree.
I have found in life that there are two types of people, emotional and analytical. Its pretty obvious which one is better at selling newspapers and spinning yarns. I guess the question is, who do we find a balance?

Actually, it's mostly shades of gray, and not absolutes on either end. The majority of voters lay in this middle area - the moderates. This is where our message needs to go. The question is how do we make this message appealing to moderates? Our side has issues with deceit, the other side does not (ends justify the means), so we are constrained and can't simply tell them what they want to hear. We have to tell them the truth, good and bad, or we compromise our principles. Unfortunately, our message requires us to tell them that people bear responsibility and not an inanimate object.

 

[chariot13]

"But if it saves just one life" Your friends logic is flawed. If this friends logic was truly important to them, then this person is very unwell and in need of help. You see, this friend could use this rational for taking you out. Not only would he save one life but all of those lives that were going to be killed for your breakfast, lunch and dinner... I wouldn't eat any meals with this 'friend' if I were you.

 

[deen_ad]

Is he the owner of The Gun Room?

I was in there once some years ago. the guy followed me around from row to row as I looked at what little they had on the shelves. Made me very unwelcome, so I never even asked any questions and just left.


Deen
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"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one and don't have it, you'll probably never need one again!"