Also recently found at Irons in the Fire was a piece on What got my attention on gun control laws. Firehand says:
(O)ne day Dad and I went to the range. Didn’t get to go often at that time, so it was an occasion. Handguns only that time, Dad’s sidearm and a .22 revolver (side note: I was in my early 30’s before I fired a semi-auto pistol). Great fun was had, and then it hit.
I was lining up a shot when the aforementioned Truth walked up behind me with a 2×4 and swung. There were people out there who would never let us do this again! They’d take the .22, and Dad wouldn’t be able to let me shoot his .357! I’d never be allowed to own a pistol, and if I had kids someday, I wouldn’t be allowed to teach them to shoot them! Hell, if those people had their way, we wouldn’t be allowed to own ANY firearm!!!
It’s kind of hard to overstate how strong a shock this was. I’d known it intellectually, but not in my gut where it counted. I knew it now, and it scared me. And then it made me mad.
Like Firehand, I’d been aware of the war on guns for a while, but hadn’t really paid that much attention. I was still in the mode of “what I know is general knowledge,” and really didn’t understand how bad the propaganda war had gotten. After all, everybody I knew thought about guns pretty much the way I did – they’re tools, and our access to them is guaranteed by the Constitution.
Then I met my wife-to-be. She’s a native Okinawan, brought here when she was nine years old. Her step-father is retired Air Force, and not a shooter (though he owns a couple of guns). All she knew about guns and gun owners she learned from the media.
Hoo boy. Once I understood just how effectively the media was working to demonize guns and gun owners, I got mad.
So, here’s a question for all you gunbloggers out there: What was it that pressed your button?