You Wouldn't Understand, Salon. It's a "Guy Thing"

SALON has performed admirably its duties toward advancing the Liberal Leftist program of attacking the Second Amendment, while enjoying in full the liberties of the First Amendment.

In today's article, it features Ad Hominem arguments which dismisses gun-owners as fearful, insecure, immature, sexually frustrated, socially incompetent, and a tool of the notorious gun-maker shill .. the National Rifle Association.  The Santa Barbara whack-job is posited as the poster boy for the NRA, and it manages (in the 3rd paragraph) to squeeze in the long-disputed argument that "if you have a gun in your home, you are 43 times more likely to die from it, than to be saved by it".  (See the previous article "43 times" for the details of this disputation by the Center for Disease control, 2004/)


The gun lobby’s dangerous game: How it preys on people like Elliot Rodger - Salon.com:
(May 28, 2014)

The gun industry, through its direct marketing and through industry front organizations like the NRA, has settled on a marketing scheme  they’ll never openly admit to but which is completely evident in their press releases, advertisements and other marketing materials. They target men who have high levels of insecurity when it comes to issues of masculinity and power, and suggest that buying guns will make them feel powerful and manly and chase those insecurities away.
 The centerpiece of the pitch is the fantasy of putting down a home invader. Anxious men are encouraged to believe there’s a high chance that someone will break into their home—their castle—for some raping and pillaging, and that they can play the role of the brave and stalwart hero by shooting the invader. (A corollary pitch is the power fantasy of armed resistance to some vague government “tyranny,” where the insecure man gets to imagine himself as a brave resistance fighter, his masculinity put beyond a shadow of a doubt as he gets to play at being a revolutionary.)
That a gun in the household is far more likely to cause an accident, or be used for suicide or interpersonal violence than to fend off a home invader doesn’t matter. It’s a fantasy of masculinity, used to paper over insecurities, and facts cannot compete.

Rave on, SALON.  We're amazed that you didn't accuse gun-owners of buying high-value sports cars to compensate for our inadequate penis size. *(Was that because of penis envy?)*

Oh.  We don't, do we.  Instead, we tend to buy big cars like SUV's and pick-em-up-trucks .... having nothing to do everything to do with the need to have cargo room to haul our insecurity-blankets and big guns to the hunting grounds, and game back home for the dinner table.

Admittedly, the meat we bring home (game, silly boy, not what you're thinking!) is probably more expensive than grain-fed beef from the Chicago Stockyards, but it's a cultural thing.  You wouldn't understand.

We're willing to travel thousands of miles for a good hunt, and then cut and wrap both steaks and roasts for the big old freezer in the garage.  Admittedly, we usually save the cut-offs for the local butcher to make into hamburger, sausage, or whatever form we most favor.  Some of us like to ... oh, I'm sorry.  You don't eat meat, do you Salon?  Sorry ... you wouldn't understand the difference between venison-burger and tofu.  Hey, it's all protein; so what if you choose to have some illegal alien harvest your soy-beans.  At least you don't have to get your hands dirty scavenging dinner.

But you don't like us, SALON, because we play with guns.  Yes, truly, we do.  Some of us like to shoot in competition, such as Practical Pistol and IDPA and bulls-eye shooting.  It's like playing darts, except you get the loud, rude noises.  And the company of people who have similar values. \

 Yes, competition; it's not just "A Guy Thing" ... women compete, as do children (under close supervision .. but then, everybody who competes is under close supervision.)

Some people just go out to the wildnerness and shoot holes in tin cans.  It's called "Plinking", and it's a lot of fun.  Most of us gun-owners have guns which have never been used to hunt.  The overwhelming majority of us have guns which have never been pointed at a living being.  Darts, noise .. you get the picture?  It's fun, and it doesn't hurt anybody.

Salon, if you want to point fingers at anybody, try .. oh, I don't know ... high school football.  Wow!  Now there's a dangerous sport!  Every year, young men are killed playing football.

I shoot in Practical Shooting Competition, which is a world-wide sport.  So far (since the 1970's), nobody has ever died while practicing this sport.  You think shooting is dangerous?  How about helmet-to-helmet contact in any state you would care to name.

Do people die from gunshot?  You bet they do.  Usually, someone was breaking a law. Or they were terminally stupid.  (eg: "Hey Bubba, Watch This!)

But you, Salon, choose to point out the imagined falacies of gun owners who you think are ridiculously over-concerned about home invasions.   Which you suggest never happen.

Guess what?  They do happen ... every frigging day.  If you live in New York City you probably don't worry about that very much.  Because you stand a better chance of being mugged in you wander into the 'wrong neighborhood'.  How many locks do you have on your doors?   Three?  Five? Six?  Do you have that little brace from the door to the floor which prevents anyone from breaking your door down?  Do you set it every time you come home?

I bet you do.  You're just so fearful, insecure and paranoid, and I bet your multiple door-locks will help you "chase those insecurities away".

A curse on you, and all your descendants .... if you are capable of having any.  Everybody is aware that bad things happen to good people.  We who own guns are not willing to expect the police to arrive before the door breaks down.

Count your own security procedures, before  you point the finger at others. And by the way, do you play darts in your nightly tavern forays?

Maybe you could understand.  You just don't want to admit it.