I managed to change someone's view on "Assault Weapons"

[Regular Guy]

Now it was my wife, but you also know how hard that can be. She is like a lot of people--not really interested in firearms as a sport and hobby, but not rabid anti gun either. And it's THESE voting people that we need to reach. She's commented in the past about my AR: "That thing looks like a machine gun!"

And so it went over the years as it does with a lot of people, she has her interests, I have mine. But with last weeks events, gun types are being heavily debated. My wife said, I don't see why anyone could possibly want an assault weapon (I hate that term, BTW.). I told her 75% of my guns fit that definition--semi-autos, at it's basic level. She had forgotten I had the AR.

I told her, to a gun owner, an AR-15 or AK-47 is desirable because of the performance and features. They are like the muscle cars of the gun world. I don't NEED my Firebird to go to the grocery store. But I like to drive it and tinker with it. Cars, like guns, are a harmless hobby to us responsible car and gun owners. What if someone used his Mustang GT to plow into a crowd of people on the sidewalk, and suddenly the NTSB wants to ban muscle cars? Why do I have to give up my car, or be unable to buy a new one, because someone else mis-used his?

She said, "Well, but...ok I see your point." She is a woman who likes to win her arguments, too, so I didn't crow about it.

 

[Pete]

I have problems with the term "assault weapon" because an AR15 only looks like an assault weapon. An AR15 is not a select fire military weapon. My problem is the ban list is banning upon cosmetic features. If assault weapon is used as ban criteria where does the attorney general stop--AR 15; Winchester 94; Brown Bess???

I like the analogy of the muscle car.

 

[Light]

People just tend to make things more efficient.

A normal 4 door car or a truck, improved to sports cars.

A lever action rifle improved to an AR or AK.

Trying to ban efficient firearms is like trying to ban sports cars, they are desirable because they are more efficient at what they do.

 

[HavokCycle]

i hate to tell ya man, but 'i see your point' is analogous to 'i'll take it under advisement'

 

[indygoat]

i hate to tell ya man, but 'i see your point' is analogous to 'i'll take it under advisement'

Agree, and when you press your point too much you'll pay for that! Oh, you'll pay dearly. Now, maybe you can convince the two morons that interrupted the NRA press conference today Ill be really impressed.

 

[Regular Guy]

i hate to tell ya man, but 'i see your point' is analogous to 'i'll take it under advisement'

Agree, and when you press your point too much you'll pay for that! Oh, you'll pay dearly. Now, maybe you can convince the two morons that interrupted the NRA press conference today Ill be really impressed.

Ha ha! Point taken--but in this case I won; after 20 years of marriage I can tell.

Us firearms owners are in for hard times for awhile--I must say again, the people we need to reach to see our point of view are the ones sitting on the fence: Not gun owners, but yet not anti-gun.

 

[Cannon762]

I have problems with the term "assault weapon" because an AR15 only looks like an assault weapon. An AR15 is not a select fire military weapon. My problem is the ban list is banning upon cosmetic features. If assault weapon is used as ban criteria where does the attorney general stop--AR 15; Winchester 94; Brown Bess???

I like the analogy of the muscle car.

You didn't hear? That kid shot up the school because his collapsible stock told him to.

I can't stand "assault weapon" either. Using your example it would be the same as the media referring to every (more to the point, their v6 counterparts) Firebird/Mustang/what-have-you as a "race car".

I can hear the MSNBC report now...

They have names like "Firebird" and "Mustang". They get terrible gas mileage and can far exceed the speed limit of 55 miles per hour. So why do Americans keep buying them? Who needs that much power? These people are driving race cars around school zones; around your children and other loved ones. I propose a ban on hood-scoops, spoilers, and performance tires, to curb the pandemic of car crashes in America.

 

[stymie12000]

You didn't hear? That kid shot up the school because his collapsible stock told him to.

I can't stand "assault weapon" either. Using your example it would be the same as the media referring to every (more to the point, their v6 counterparts) Firebird/Mustang/what-have-you as a "race car".

I can hear the MSNBC report now...

They have names like "Firebird" and "Mustang". They get terrible gas mileage and can far exceed the speed limit of 55 miles per hour. So why do Americans keep buying them? Who needs that much power? These people are driving race cars around school zones; around your children and other loved ones. I propose a ban on hood-scoops, spoilers, and performance tires, to curb the pandemic of car crashes in America.

Yeah, the folding stock told him so????? I did look up Assault Rifle in the Webster dictionary. This is what I got.
assault rifle

noun (Concise Encyclopedia)
Military firearm that is chambered for ammunition of reduced size or propellant charge and has the capacity to switch between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. Light and portable, yet able to deliver a high volume of fire with reasonable accuracy at modern combat ranges of 1,000–1,600 ft (300–500 m), assault rifles have become the standard infantry weapon of modern armies. Their ease of handling makes them ideal for mobile assault troops crowded into personnel carriers or helicopters, as well as for guerrilla fighters engaged in jungle or urban warfare. Widely used assault rifles are the U.S. M16, the Soviet Kalashnikov (the AK-47 and modernized versions), the Belgian FAL and FNC, and the German G3.





I guess the Media likes to use Assault Weapon.

 

[MillenniumC5]

Maybe the AR just needs a PR facelift, all pink with butterfly, rainbow and hello kitty stickers.

 

[infiremedic07]

I managed to change a woman's mind in the beauty salon...ok before you say anything about me being in a beauty salon the lady there cuts my hair for the steep price of a few dozen farm fresh eggs..... this patron was adamant that people don't need "assault guns". I spoke to her rationally and calmly about our rights to defend. She said she was pro 2A but didn't see the need for the "AW". I spoke to her about tyranny and the ability to resist the govt as well as if we ban them then only those of us who follow the law will not have them because there are hundreds of thousands that are possessed illegally anyway. And there are hundreds of thousands that would be transported in illegally as well. The criminals and psychos will find a way. By the end of the conversation I had won her over. One down a hundred million to go.
By the way facts and numbers go a long way for those that are on the fence.

 

[jamil]

Now it was my wife, but you also know how hard that can be. She is like a lot of people--not really interested in firearms as a sport and hobby, but not rabid anti gun either. And it's THESE voting people that we need to reach. She's commented in the past about my AR: "That thing looks like a machine gun!"

And so it went over the years as it does with a lot of people, she has her interests, I have mine. But with last weeks events, gun types are being heavily debated. My wife said, I don't see why anyone could possibly want an assault weapon (I hate that term, BTW.). I told her 75% of my guns fit that definition--semi-autos, at it's basic level. She had forgotten I had the AR.

I told her, to a gun owner, an AR-15 or AK-47 is desirable because of the performance and features. They are like the muscle cars of the gun world. I don't NEED my Firebird to go to the grocery store. But I like to drive it and tinker with it. Cars, like guns, are a harmless hobby to us responsible car and gun owners. What if someone used his Mustang GT to plow into a crowd of people on the sidewalk, and suddenly the NTSB wants to ban muscle cars? Why do I have to give up my car, or be unable to buy a new one, because someone else mis-used his?

She said, "Well, but...ok I see your point." She is a woman who likes to win her arguments, too, so I didn't crow about it.

I'm in a similar situation. My wife "tolerates" my gun hobby. She's typically all for the right for people to bear arms as long as I'm not the one bearing them. But after the shooting she mentioned for the first time that she might go with me to the range sometime.

 

[jamil]

I managed to change a woman's mind in the beauty salon...ok before you say anything about me being in a beauty salon the lady there cuts my hair for the steep price of a few dozen farm fresh eggs..... this patron was adamant that people don't need "assault guns". I spoke to her rationally and calmly about our rights to defend. She said she was pro 2A but didn't see the need for the "AW". I spoke to her about tyranny and the ability to resist the govt as well as if we ban them then only those of us who follow the law will not have them because there are hundreds of thousands that are possessed illegally anyway. And there are hundreds of thousands that would be transported in illegally as well. The criminals and psychos will find a way. By the end of the conversation I had won her over. One down a hundred million to go.
By the way facts and numbers go a long way for those that are on the fence.

Your approach seemed to work better than mine. A recent rant went something like this:

Who are YOU to tell me that I don't "need" whatever. Contrary to what the Huffington Post tells you, which gun or which anything I own does not affect you. If I have the resources, land, etc to own a tank in a way that does not infringe upon you it's none of your business. I should have the freedom to own one and run that thing all over my property and blow up anything I own with it. If I have the resources to own a battleship, same thing. You don't have a right to restrict me to only that which I need. If you want to play that game, I can do it too. You don't "NEEEEED" to be fat.

It went downhill from there.

 

[Spike_351]

Maybe if we put woken furniture and a scope on an AR the media would be to stupid to notice the differnece and wouldn't call it am "assault weapon"