Hoplophobes are silly ...

I often run across a tired meme from people who are afraid of weapons (and more specifically guns). That meme, is that "gun owners are compensating for something! *wink wink*".

Most recently I was stumbling through blogs when I ran across a woman who had a friend's boyfriend act like a jerk. (Long story short he was excited about getting a new pistol and pulled it out in front of a hoplophobe and her kid. He also made some factually incorrect statements about the pistol.) While what he did was indeed wrong (waving the gun around broke one of the 4 rules), the wailing and gnashing of teeth had less to do with his actions, and more to do with the inanimate object.

I stopped reading after a bit, because the vitriole was simply disgusting:

"He must have a small penis!"
"I hate guns!"
"You should get rid of [the woman] as a friend."
"Psycho!"
"You should report him to the police!"

It went on and on for 50+ posts.

I myself often carry a firearm around the house, and carrying a firearm around your own house (or a house of a friend if they allow it) is legal in all 50 states. The biggest difference, is most people wouldn't know I am carrying. I conceal it, and don't wave it around.

In the end, I didn't respond. It wasn't worth my time to try and convince them, but strangly enough Oleg Volk had a similar theme pop up on at least one of his forums.

His pictures tend to say it better then I can.



This image is copywritten by Oleg Volk. More can be seen at A Human Right.