What Drives Gun Control Zealots

ZigZagZeke · Jul 31, 2013

The "My Month With a Gun" series, by Heidi Yewman contains a buried admission that I think fuels the unreasoning hatred of guns by most anti-gun people.

A Response to "Stupid, Immoral, Dangerous, Coward: My Month with a Gun"

"Yewman wants her readers to believe that if you have a gun, you have to consider that the world is a dangerous place. And if you dont have a gun, then you can sleep peacefully at night."

Yewman: Suspiciousness and fear of people is new to me, and I dont like it....I thought the gun would make me feel more powerful, more confident, and less fearful. I was wrong. All I felt was fear. Physically taking the gun out of the safe and putting it in a holster on my hip literally reminded me that I was going out into a big bad scary unsafe world. There were days when I put the gun back in the safe and stayed home because it simply took too much energy to be scared."

In other words, if an anti-gun person refuses to deal with the idea of the world being a dangerous place, if they simply decide to ignore reality, they can feel safe. Those of us who own, carry, and use guns for any purpose infringe upon those fantasies of safety just as Yewman herself infringed on her own fantasy when she took her gun out of the safe. The fantasy that the world is benign that is so carefully nurtured by anti-gunners is also very fragile. Anything that threatens that fantasy frightens and enrages them. It's why they so emotionally argue that no one should be armed, that armed guards in schools are a bad idea, and it's why any other seemingly reasonable idea that involves the presence of guns triggers such over the top reactions.

One-Eyed Ross · Jul 31, 2013

Raging Against Self Defense: A psychiatrist Examines The Anti-Gun Mentality, By Sarah Thompson, M.D.

and a good follow on:

Open letter to the American Psychiatric Association from Gene Flick, MD.

coyoteman5 · Jul 31, 2013

Fear and or control over others

Stomper · Jul 31, 2013

They are merely useful idiots for a much larger plan, a socialist utopia, and the ends justify the means.

etrain16 · Jul 31, 2013

My guess is that same lady locks her doors at night, owns a fire extinguisher, wears her seat belt, looks both ways before crossing the street, cooks meat before she eats it, doesn't walk through dark alleys alone at night, keeps her money in a bank or any of a number of things designed to keep her safe. The world is full of danger, it always has been. It is truly foolish to be so gullible enough to actually believe that the world is safe and peaceful. Sure, for many folks, they will go through their day without any big frightening event occurring. But to feel fear for simply arming yourself? She needs some psychological counseling. If she is made afraid that easily, then she has some serious irrational fears in her mind. Why should taking one more step to protect yourself suddenly make the world a scary, dangerous place? If the world is truly safe and peaceful, open your doors wide every night and invite anyone you want to walk in. Then see how safe you really feel. What a loon.