Dan Thomasson of The Reporter says of gun ownership:
Then there are those who are nuts about guns, who collect them and seem almost to consider them affectionate, even sexual objects.
Yes, the sexual objects again. Next thing you know, he’ll say we’re all paranoids:
Present in all three classifications is an element of paranoia, a strong belief that without these weapons one is not likely to survive the truly crazy (like maybe one’s testy neighbor or a disaffected co-worker or student seeking revenge from bullies) or the ubiquitous criminals that use guns as necessary tools in their business.
Maybe we just want to pursue the hobbies that make us happy, and just be left alone rather than being blamed for all the ills of society, or looked down upon by our supposed betters who say we have mental or sexual deficiencies. A lot of gun owners and gun hobbyists are angry people. It’s crap like this that makes them angry people. Everyone is someone else’s weirdo. Time to accept that and move on. Kind of makes you wonder about Mr. Thomasson’s hobbies, doesn’t it?
so true…
I thought it was only paranoia if you’re delusional. I live in a suburban area* and there have been muggings (including a friend’s brother by a knife to the throat), sexual assaults, and carjackings in the three years I’ve been here. 40 minutes in either direction from me are major cities where I’ve worked and where people get murdered, maimed, and otherwise victimized a lot more. Before moving here, I lived for seven years in a small town in southwestern Virginia. Other than a criminal escaping custody and sneaking through town killing cops and some grad student murdering thirty-two people, not much ever happened there, either (not to mention the beheading by one student of another the year after I left or the murder of two students in the nearby National Forest the year after that).
So maybe it is paranoia. Maybe there isn’t any danger if you live in the suburbs, or a small town, or work in a major city where there are people around.
*I know the authors of this blog, at least, can see my location, but I’d rather it not be disclosed at this point in my career…
I can’t see your location, just your IP address and e-mail. You can geolocate the former, but that’s not an exact science, and I don’t make a regular habit of geolocating IPs from here. Unless you’re doing something to disrupt the operation or function of the blog or the servers it runs on, you don’t have anything to worry about with revealing those.
Much appreciated!
I saw the article yesterday … and was so moved, I wrote him a letter. I wasn’t very happy. No reply.
______________________________
Dan:
Was there a particular reason you took a condescending tone when writing about gun owners? Are you willing to identify the reason?
Where has “gun nut” been defined? I own guns but am not sure what characterizes a “gun nut?” You seem to imply that anyone who believes that gun ownership is an unalienable right is a “gun nut.” If that is true, then there are many non-gun owners who are “gun nuts.” But since they don’t own guns, perhaps you’d just call them “nuts?”
For better or worse (and like it or not), our constitution commands that the right of the people to own and carry guns shall not be infringed. If a right (such as the right to own or carry a gun) is not to be infringed, and if such a right preexisted the constitution, I’d say that right is unalienable.
That you refer to such people as “nuts” suggests that you don’t take them seriously. That you belittle such people belies a person without honor, integrity, and respect.
And that’s too bad for you.
He also includes this lie:
the firearms industry and its lobby, the National Rifle Association
There is a lobby for the firearms industry–can’t remember the name–but it has only a fraction of the money, members, and influence of the NRA, an organization serving the needs of gun *owners.*
Technically, the NRA isn’t a lobby for gun owners either; the NRA-ILA is.
I think there are at least a couple of other types of “gun nuts.”
There are the pure collectors who collect guns much like people collect art or teacups. I know a couple of them. Neither one is much interested in modern weapons, at least not to buy. One likes to buy ancient cannons but I don’t believe he uses any of them for personal defense. ;-)
There are also the hunters and the target shooters. For some, this is a sport, just like basketball or darts.