We have a name for it when the majority of us blame an innocent minority. It is called bigotry. The non-gun owning majority of US adults blames legal gun owners for wrongs that armed America didn’t commit. Armed America is blamed for social ills they didn’t cause, and for which they may, in fact, be part of the solution. Recent polls show how bigoted the majority of us are. I wrote about these differences and the source of the misperception between disarmed and armed America. How should we stop this bigotry against legal gun owners?
We must first recognize that this is not an argument about facts and figures. Licensed gun owners are the most law abiding and non-violent segment of our population. This argument is about how gun-owners are perceived by unarmed America. The defense of armed America must start with those who create the false perception of gun owners. We have to stop the stream of lies.
Zero tolerance in the news
The majority of unarmed urban Americans don’t own guns and don’t have friends who do. They get their impressions from the news. They see a series of crime reports and think legal gun ownership leads to criminal violence and mass murder. Ask your local paper to run articles that accurately report some of the thousands of justified self-defense events that happen every day.
Zero tolerance in entertainment
There are a lot of cop shows and crime dramas. They portray competent and attractive government agents using guns. Armed citizens are usually shown as unattractive and incompetent. Write in to the shows and tell them they are promoting bigotry against armed America. Repost your comment on social media.
Zero tolerance in the courts
We maliciously prosecute non-violent gun owners who have inadvertently and non-violently violated one of our 23 thousand gun laws. Vote against judges and attorneys who prosecute these innocent gun owners. Acquit these gun owners when you’re called onto a jury. More than one-out-of-12 of us have a gun in the home.
Zero tolerance from our legislators
Eliminate the laws that treat gun owners as second class citizens. Why do we have to pay a tax to exercise a human right? This bigotry deliberately disarms the poor. Ask your legislators why are we deliberately excluded from schools, churches, and some lunch counters.
Zero tolerance for commerce and culture
Avoid “gun-free” zones. You wouldn’t do business with a store that excluded blacks, Catholics or Jews, so why are you doing business with someone who excludes armed Americans? Go to another store, theater, or sports complex. Also, find a new merchant if your bank, grocery store or credit card company donates to bigoted organizations.
There are a thousand ways to end this bigotry.
I’ve given you my ideas, but you are many and I am one. What should we do to change hearts and minds?
photo credit: Excerpted from: classic_film Robert Horton, Cara Williams, Jack Mullaney, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Decoy,” 1956 via photopin (license)
