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dressing-concealed-carry-gun“Guns are the gateway drug to freedom.” — Stephen Kruiser

We’re in a presidential election where one of the candidates is proud that the National Rifle Association and others opposes her efforts to change the meaning of the Second Amendment and impose the “Australian model” of gun control on the US.

American gun owners are, for the most part, allied against Hillary’s attempts to move the right of self-defense from an individual right to a duty that belongs to the state. We’re mobilized, and we’re spreading the word about what responsible gun ownership looks like.

We have the advantage in this fight, because we have fun on our side. It’s fun to go to the range and turn money into noise. It’s fun going out into the beauty of creation and harvest one of God’s creatures to provide food for your family. It’s fun to shoot a match, and knowing that you have the skill and the means to protect yourself from the threat of lethal force brings a sense of security and confidence.

The forces allied against this do not have these advantages. All they have is false sense of moral outrage and emotional outbursts timed to coincide with the criminal use of guns.

Don’t take my word for this: It’s right there in their playbook. It’s how they operate, and they know they have to lump in legal gun owners with illegal gun owners in order to achieve their goal of civilian disarmament.

All we have to do in order to roll back the tide of gun control is take people shooting, and opportunities abound to get people out to the range and get a gun in their hand. Guns and shooting will arise in conversations all the time, be it at work or in your place of worship or when you’re out with friends. You don’t have to slap an NRA sticker on your pickup truck to take a stand for gun rights, you just have to be willing to talk about them when the subject comes up. I’ve had casual conversations turn into range sessions, and range sessions turn into trips to shooting matches with new friends.

Make it a point to take a friend or a co-worker to the range before Nov. 8 rolls around, and remember to vote as if your right to defend your family’s life depends on it.

Because it does.

Published in Guns
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  1. Ann Inactive
    Ann
    @Ann

    Nicely put.

    • #1
  2. Eeyore Member
    Eeyore
    @Eeyore

    Kevin Creighton: Make it a point to take a friend or a co-worker to the range…

    The word “arsenal” could likely be legitimately applied to the collections of the guys I work with. One of my favorite customers had his friend, the Fire Marshall, tell him that, with the amount of ammo and powder he had, if he ever had a fire, they would not be coming in, they’d be fighting the fire from the outside.

    • #2
  3. Eeyore Member
    Eeyore
    @Eeyore

    By the way, might Google have an anti-weapons bias? To make sure I wasn’t overstepping my bounds with the use of the word “arsenal,” I Googled it. Usually, the first Google result on a word is a large-print dictionary definition. Not here. It wasn’t until the bottom of the 3rd page of results was there any link other than related to the Arsenal Football Club in London.

    • #3
  4. Kevin Creighton Contributor
    Kevin Creighton
    @KevinCreighton

    One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. :D

    • #4
  5. Quietpi Member
    Quietpi
    @Quietpi

    Kevin Creighton:One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. ?

    Heh, unless you’re a P.I., associating with fellow P.I.’s.  Then it’s,”  Yeah… and?”

    A few years ago, the local sheriff was addressing a luncheon meeting when he quipped, “I doubt there’s any place on earth where I’d be safer than in this crowd.”

    • #5
  6. DocJay Inactive
    DocJay
    @DocJay

    I have guns hanging all over my office and darn proud of it.

    I’m hoping issues like this will be enough for the voters to choose a difficult man instead of a horrible woman.

    • #6
  7. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Kevin Creighton:One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. ?

    You left out option 5.  You will be called into HR, told you are creating a hostile work environment, that your fellow coworkers feel threatened and “asked” for permission to search your person, belongings and vehicles you have on company premises.  If any weapon is found you will be suspended from your job.

    I have seen option 5 happen twice so far.

    • #7
  8. Pony Convertible Inactive
    Pony Convertible
    @PonyConvertible

    I had dinner the other night with a couple of Danes.  They were amazed and the length of the steak knives they got with their steak.  Apparently, it is illegal for them to have a knife more than a couple of inches long.  So even after the guns are banned, the silliness continues as other items that could be weapons are banned.

    • #8
  9. Austin Murrey Inactive
    Austin Murrey
    @AustinMurrey

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Kevin Creighton:One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. ?

    You left out option 5. You will be called into HR, told you are creating a hostile work environment, that your fellow coworkers feel threatened and “asked” for permission to search your person, belongings and vehicles you have on company premises. If any weapon is found you will be suspended from your job.

    I have seen option 5 happen twice so far.

    My permission would not be forthcoming.

    • #9
  10. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Austin Murrey:

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Kevin Creighton:One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. ?

    You left out option 5. You will be called into HR, told you are creating a hostile work environment, that your fellow coworkers feel threatened and “asked” for permission to search your person, belongings and vehicles you have on company premises. If any weapon is found you will be suspended from your job.

    I have seen option 5 happen twice so far.

    My permission would not be forthcoming.

    Nor would your employment be continuing.

    • #10
  11. Austin Murrey Inactive
    Austin Murrey
    @AustinMurrey

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Austin Murrey:

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Kevin Creighton:One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. ?

    You left out option 5. You will be called into HR, told you are creating a hostile work environment, that your fellow coworkers feel threatened and “asked” for permission to search your person, belongings and vehicles you have on company premises. If any weapon is found you will be suspended from your job.

    I have seen option 5 happen twice so far.

    My permission would not be forthcoming.

    Nor would your employment be continuing.

    Sounds like that was their plan anyway. But I don’t think, in Texas, you employer can demand to search your car.

    • #11
  12. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    Making guns an issue is the biggest act of political misdirection there is.  The Swiss and the populations of most rural American counties have more guns per capita than the citizens of Illinois but they do not slaughter each other every weekend as is the tradition in Chicago and other Democratic party enclaves.

    Policies imposed by liberals have destroyed the personal formation of  three generations of inner city Americans.  The dangers of the welfare state presented in detail in the Moynihan Report in 1965 all came to pass.  Young men without the formation that could have been provided by family and family-based communities instead experience social, academic, financial and emotional failure and invariably gravitate towards violence.

    For decades, in response to calls by social conservatives and social scientists for policies to restore the family as an institution, left-wing ideologues and politicians assured us that the state could handle it and that the family was just a vestige of the patriarchy anyway.  Those certain politicians used the euphemism “it takes a village” to conceal their contempt for the nuclear family and offer a celebration of fictional alternatives and statism.

    Guns, the ‘legacy of slavery’, income inequality, racism, even climate change are all invoked loudly to explain away inner city violence in a constant effort to force attention away from the elephant in the room: the legacy of left-wing social policy.

    The willing heirs of LBJ have killed far more inner city Americans than the NRA ever could.

    • #12
  13. Kevin Creighton Contributor
    Kevin Creighton
    @KevinCreighton

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Kevin Creighton:One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. ?

    You left out option 5. You will be called into HR, told you are creating a hostile work environment, that your fellow coworkers feel threatened and “asked” for permission to search your person, belongings and vehicles you have on company premises. If any weapon is found you will be suspended from your job.

    I have seen option 5 happen twice so far.

    The trick is not to initiate the conversation, but to chime in when conversations happen.

    • #13
  14. Quietpi Member
    Quietpi
    @Quietpi

    Pony Convertible:I had dinner the other night with a couple of Danes. They were amazed and the length of the steak knives they got with their steak. Apparently, it is illegal for them to have a knife more than a couple of inches long. So even after the guns are banned, the silliness continues as other items that could be weapons are banned.

    You know, do you not, that there is a knife ban in England as well.  I know it has to do with knives with points.  Whether or not there is a length limit, I don’t know.

    Funny – (well, not funny at all, actually) I’ve been considering obtaining a replica of the Wallace Sword – a broadsword, big even by broadsword standards.  Sir William, a relative, is said to have been a very big man.  It’s pointed.  Would I be allowed to possess it now in England?

    • #14
  15. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Austin Murrey:

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Austin Murrey:

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Kevin Creighton:One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. ?

    You left out option 5. You will be called into HR, told you are creating a hostile work environment, that your fellow coworkers feel threatened and “asked” for permission to search your person, belongings and vehicles you have on company premises. If any weapon is found you will be suspended from your job.

    I have seen option 5 happen twice so far.

    My permission would not be forthcoming.

    Nor would your employment be continuing.

    Sounds like that was their plan anyway. But I don’t think, in Texas, you employer can demand to search your car.

    I believe it was a request, that you can legally turn down.  Just like they can legally unemploy you at anytime.

    • #15
  16. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Austin Murrey:

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Austin Murrey:

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Kevin Creighton:One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. ?

    You left out option 5. You will be called into HR, told you are creating a hostile work environment, that your fellow coworkers feel threatened and “asked” for permission to search your person, belongings and vehicles you have on company premises. If any weapon is found you will be suspended from your job.

    I have seen option 5 happen twice so far.

    My permission would not be forthcoming.

    Nor would your employment be continuing.

    Sounds like that was their plan anyway. But I don’t think, in Texas, you employer can demand to search your car.

    In one case the guy forgot he left his shooting equipment in the car when he was at the range the night before.  When they opened his trunk to find a half a dozen weapons and ammo the company freaked out and called the police, FBI, ATF, MSM and marked him as a domestic terrorist.  Pretty much got him blackballed in the city for a while.  Because it became high profile a bunch of charges were filed, etc.  Took him about a year to get the legal stuff cleared up.  There was some sort of fine because one of his guns was out of spec for the state they caught him in.  It was legal in the state he lived and normally shoot in.  Ugly stuff.

    • #16
  17. Austin Murrey Inactive
    Austin Murrey
    @AustinMurrey

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Austin Murrey:

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Austin Murrey:

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Kevin Creighton:One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. ?

    You left out option 5. You will be called into HR, told you are creating a hostile work environment, that your fellow coworkers feel threatened and “asked” for permission to search your person, belongings and vehicles you have on company premises. If any weapon is found you will be suspended from your job.

    I have seen option 5 happen twice so far.

    My permission would not be forthcoming.

    Nor would your employment be continuing.

    Sounds like that was their plan anyway. But I don’t think, in Texas, you employer can demand to search your car.

    In one case the guy forgot he left his shooting equipment in the car when he was at the range the night before. When they opened his trunk to find a half a dozen weapons and ammo the company freaked out and called the police, FBI, ATF, MSM and marked him as a domestic terrorist. Pretty much got him blackballed in the city for a while. Because it became high profile a bunch of charges were filed, etc. Took him about a year to get the legal stuff cleared up. There was some sort of fine because one of his guns was out of spec for the state the caught him in. It was legal in the state he lived and normally shoot in. Ugly stuff.

    Gotta love the ignorant, especially when they’re in a position of authority.

    • #17
  18. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Kevin Creighton:

    Fake John/Jane Galt:

    Kevin Creighton:One of four things will happen if you come out as “gun nut” to your friends and coworkers:

    1. “Huh. I never knew that about you.”, followed by a gradually distancing of the relationship as your friend doesn’t like being around a “gun nut”.
    2. “Huh, I never knew that about you”, followed by a normal continuation of the relationship as your friend thinks that the shooting sports is just another hobby, akin to building ships in bottles or needlepoint.
    3. “Cool. Whaddaya shoot?”
    4. “Huh. I never knew that about you. Say, I’ve been thinking about getting a gun because of all that’s happening and…”

    That fourth outcome is always the best. ?

    You left out option 5. You will be called into HR, told you are creating a hostile work environment, that your fellow coworkers feel threatened and “asked” for permission to search your person, belongings and vehicles you have on company premises. If any weapon is found you will be suspended from your job.

    I have seen option 5 happen twice so far.

    The trick is not to initiate the conversation, but to chime in when conversations happen.

    I know, I have been a NRA member and sponsor for years.  Most of us gun nuts where we work know each other but some are very enthusiastic about their sport.  More than once while an intense discussion about guns was happening suggest that they tone it down a bit since they were scaring the straights.  You really don’t want people going to HR saying they are worried you might go postal one day.

    • #18
  19. TeeJaw Inactive
    TeeJaw
    @TeeJaw

    Restrictive gun laws are rooted in the post civil war fears of Southern Democrats that newly freed blacks should not have guns because that would make it harder for whites to impose Jim Crow. Today’s impetus for gun control continues to be a form of hatred, this time by self-rightous Leftists who have an unfulfilled need to feel superior to the rest of us. This need is powerful. Even though it has always blown up their faces they cannot let it go.

    • #19
  20. Mark Wilson Inactive
    Mark Wilson
    @MarkWilson

    Kevin Creighton: Don’t take my word for this: It’s right there in their playbook.

    I took a gander at that playbook.  Some great stuff in there!  Here is the first substantive sentence in the upfront summary:

    Advocates for gun violence prevention win the logical debate, but lose on more emotional terms. [emphasis in original]

    Have you ever read a sentence more at odds with reality?  Unsurprisingly, the pamphlet goes on to urge you to use emotional, feelings-based language and arguments.

    Did you know identity politics plays into it as well?

    There is an intensity gap that has built up over years. In the general public, those who view themselves as supporters of gun rights are more deeply committed to and emotionally invested in their position than those supporting stronger gun violence prevention measures. [emphasis added]

    Do you identify as a gun rights supporter?  This is fraught with complexity because there are many liberal Democrats who identify as Second Amendment supporters while also opposing the basic tenets of the Second Amendment.  If you refuse to accept their identity statements at face value, but instead question them based on your own value judgments, you may be unintentionally triggering them and you may be asked to politely shut your privileged mouth.

    It’s also noteworthy that instead of “gun control” they say “gun violence prevention measures”.  But that term could, if you think logically rather than emotionally, apply to concealed carry.

    • #20
  21. Right Wing Teamster Lawyer Inactive
    Right Wing Teamster Lawyer
    @RightWingTeamsterLawyer

    Pony Convertible:I had dinner the other night with a couple of Danes. They were amazed and the length of the steak knives they got with their steak. Apparently, it is illegal for them to have a knife more than a couple of inches long. So even after the guns are banned, the silliness continues as other items that could be weapons are banned.

    First reading I read “Dames.”  When I didn’t see any similar “hardboiled” language I realized my mistake.  I was disappointed.

    • #21
  22. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Right Wing Teamster Lawyer:

    Pony Convertible:I had dinner the other night with a couple of Danes. They were amazed and the length of the steak knives they got with their steak. Apparently, it is illegal for them to have a knife more than a couple of inches long. So even after the guns are banned, the silliness continues as other items that could be weapons are banned.

    First reading I read “Dames.” When I didn’t see any similar “hardboiled” language I realized my mistake. I was disappointed.

    I prefer “chicks” myself.

    • #22
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