I have to tell you: I love seeing stories like this, stories in which people who once believed the lie about gun ownership that says that guns are responsible for violence but, then, find out the truth and turn to the side of sanity. Of course, the side of sanity is the side of responsible gun ownership.
It’s especially gratifying to me to see someone who anti-gunners typically relied on for votes now oppose those anti-gun policies and politicians. I think that all anti-gun politicians should be shut down so that they pass none of their crazy legislation and so that they get voted out of office. Stories like this get us one step closer to that outcome.
So, what person of a traditionally Democratic constituency is now pro-gun? Lois Beckett gives us the details (hat tip to here for the lead):
When he signed up for a Zoom gun safety session, one new gun owner, a 40-year-old tech company worker from San Jose, said he expected he would be chatting with “some hillbilly NRA guy”.
“Is he even going to be nice to me?” the tech worker, who is black, wondered.
Instead he got Rossi, who works in the same industry and lives in the same town.
Just a few years ago, the new gun owner, who asked that his name not be used, said he was someone who had believed that AR-15s should be banned.
In early March, as concerns about coronavirus grew, his company told employees not to worry, that “the government has it under control, there’s going to be a vaccine.” Then he went to grocery store, “and there was nothing” so he had to go to his parent’s house to get toilet paper.
He starting thinking about stories of civil unrest during the Los Angeles riots or Hurricane Katrina and said he worried about desperate people, hungry people, who might see homes in his nice San Jose neighborhood as soft targets.
“People take from those who have,” he said. How likely was it that he would ever be a target? “One in a million,” he said. “I consider it an extreme impossibility. But why not be prepared?”
In mid-March he went to buy self-defense weapons: a handgun and, because shotguns were sold out, an AR-15, which retails for about $1,000.
The new gun owner’s parents were appalled, and worried about the safety of his young children, ages three and one. His mother tried to get his brother to intervene. Instead, his brother bought himself three guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
The new gun buyer said the Zoom session was part of his attempt to be responsible. Rossi, hefting his own high-end AR-15, recapped the principles of gun safety: always keep the weapon’s muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire. Be aware of what might be behind the target you’re shooting at. Treat every gun as if it’s loaded.
They did some troubleshooting: what should he do if an ammunition round got jammed inside his gun? How long would his military-surplus ammo be usable?
Ammo didn’t go bad, Rossi said. He was still “shooting shit” from the second world war and “surplus from the Korean war”.
While “white Americans tend to be more vocal about their gun ownership”, the new owner said, being a black gun owner didn’t feel special.
But it came with different concerns. He was more afraid a police officer might shoot him than that someone else might attack him on the street; he would “never” carry a gun in public.
If he ever had to call the police to his home, he said, he would emphasize: “The black guy with the gun is the homeowner.”
Owning guns had already shifted some of his political opinions. He said he still supported limits on larger-capacity ammunition magazines. But when he bought his guns, he said, he had to wait 10 days to get them. “That was an eternity to me,” he said. “Are these really common sense gun laws?”
Rossi was encouraged to hear this, and said he’d try to persuade the new gun owner about why he actually needed larger-capacity magazines next. The two men made a plan to go shooting in person as soon as possible.
Good for this African-American gentleman for having the courage to do the right thing for his family even though his parents and those who hold his former political convictions didn’t understand. That takes guts to go against the grain of those around you, and I applaud him for that.
And I hope that he takes the next step and becomes an evangelist to bring even more traditionally Democratic voters into the gun rights movement. Because all Americans deserve the right to defend themselves.
I am a firearms instructor, and just this week had a gentlemen in my neighborhood, who is completely unfamiliar with firearms ask me would I teach him how to safely handle a firearm as he is worried about current conditions. He too is or was an anti-gunner.
It all comes down to TWO PARAMOUNT FACTORS: the responsibility of the gun owner, and his/her training in its proper use. Guns do not shoot by themselves; the human factor determines the outcome. In this regard, the most believable story about the assassination of JFK is that he was shot from behind by a secret service agent in the following limousine; the agent was untrained in the use of the rifle, an AR15 which was a new type of weapon at the time, and the shot was unintentional and unaimed.
Years ago, I had a similar situation. A young woman about my age moved into the apartment building behind my house. She was worried because the neighborhood wasn’t the best and we got to talking about guns. She told me that her family was extremely anti-gun and she had never even held one before. I offered to take her shooting in the woods and was astonished that she was a natural born shot. Later she bought a couple of handguns for protection and when her lesbian sister found out that she was the owner of two handguns she almost died from fright think she was going to become a “kill crazy Rambo” as her sister called her.
Welcome to the community of Lawful Gun Owners. You’ll meet everyone from a Blue Collar to MDs and PhDs, and everything in between. What do we all have in common? A Love of our 2nd Amendment and the knowledge that the Founders believed that We the People were the Front Line against Tyranny.
For years 2A supporters have bought firearms and ammunitions. Gun Controllers attempted, and have succeeded, in restricting 2A. What they forget is that whether or not they support 2A, it is their Right as well as ours. It isn’t mine or yours, it belongs to all of us. Further, they forget that they may be against it today, but who knows about tomorrow? An unwritten right we share is the right to change our minds. If the Gun Controllers successfully get 2A repealed, they lose the right to change their minds based on life experiences.
Katrina and Convid 19 both have opened the eyes of many gun control supporters. Up to the last couple of years, conservatives bought and prepared, and based on the estimates, we were well armed. We continued to buy, but the majority of purchases over the past couple of years appear to be by former anti-gunners.
They still have much to learn, but it is a start and they are to be commended.
Life experiences can come at any point. A BFF (female) of mine, who is on the light side was being stalked by a person with a record. Previously, she had leaned to the left in many ways. But the stalker changed her viewpoint. She was gifted a Kimber .45, signed up for classes and surprised her instructors with her ability to handle a .45 1911, with accuracy.
Prior to training, she had suffered from PTSD. The training boosted her confidence and gave her back her security along with a means to protect herself and her daughter. The unfortunate aspect is that we live in California and her county is very restrictive, while mine is very supportive.
It does not take much to change a person’s views when they can see good reason. BLM, AtiFa, and the Democrats have obviously provided good reason.
Admirable, but how many minds could this new gun owner change? In our current climate, changing anti-gun types minds is like changing the “color” of a bucket of water one drop of dye at a time.
Defund the Police has probably done for firearms interest and consideration than Barak Obama did. June set a record for background checks and at least 3 of the top months for background checks has been since the first of the year. Now people are beginning to realize that gun owners are NOT a bunch of nuts. And that it is a good thing the Constitution is what it is and that Scalia was right, it means what it says.
“…he expected he would be chatting with “some hillbilly NRA guy”.”
Golly, Liberals think in stereotypes? Whoda think?
Nice to see that individual people can still break out of the enforced prejudice and bigotry expounded by a certain political party.
Just saw a story about BLM and Boogaloo Boys standing shoulder-to-shoulder on Independence Day in Virginia protesting their Governor who’s still intent on disarming all citizens.
What these “Progressive” politicians don’t get is that they are now “the Man” and the protestors are protesting against THEM!
Comments are closed.