Ther latest example of racism (or 'merely' white saviorism) from a gun control advocate

[friendly_iconoclast]

Playing on fears of armed minorities for political gain has been a constant theme in US political life, from Roger Taney
down to the present day with Michael Bloomberg.

One Oleg Volsky has decided to jump into the game. Apparently, he thinks Bloomie shouldn't be the only one
appealing to the subset of racists that don't like Trump:


https://gunsdownamerica.org/about/

Formed in 2016, Guns Down America is actively building a future with fewer guns by financially draining the gun industry and its lobby and building political support for policies that will keep us all safe from gun violence...

Igor Volsky, Co-Founder and Executive Director

Igor Volsky is co-founder and the Director of Guns Down America. Igor has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Fox Business, Fox News, and CNBC television, and he has been a guest on many radio shows. His work on gun violence prevention has appeared in USA Today, U.S. News and World Report and the Orlando Sentinel, among others. In 2011, Forbes named Igor one of their top “30 under 30” in Law & Policy. At Guns Down, he sets the overall strategy and leads our outreach efforts.

Link to tweet

1/ Gun makers are softening their image to “put a better face in front of people" & "ramp up its appeal to women, children and members of minority groups"

That's right: gun makers are increasingly advertising to WOMEN, CHILDREN & MINORITY COMMUNITIES"


2/ Firearm industry realizes that to survive into the future it must "broaden its reach beyond the aging white men who have been its core customers" -- and so they're now trying to sell their products to other demographics.

This is incredibly dangerous.

Note: Emphasis added

[ExciteBike66]

1. Wait, by extension of your reasoning, this guy is also a misogynist and anti-kids?

I don't think he is saying it is dangerous to let minorities have guns. I think he is saying the gun industry is trying to expand its appeal, and that itself is dangerous.

Am I getting you correctly?

[friendly_iconoclast]

2. "Am I getting you correctly?" No, you're not

Volsky is a white man 'expressing his concern' about the claimed effects of gun makers extending their advertising efforts
upon, quote: "WOMEN, CHILDREN & MINORITIES".

None of which he is.

So, yeah- white savior complex- which IMO is little more than a genteel form of racism

Of course he'll say it's dangerous because guns...that's his assertion, no more and no less, and he's
free to make it-

BUT it's patronizing as fuck to purport to be looking out for the best interests of less-privileged
groups that you don't belong to.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_savior

[ExciteBike66]

3. Guns are for idiots

and he doesn't want those minorities (and women, and kids) to be idiots, I guess...

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. Oookay...Welp, have a good one!

Don't forget your pandemic prep while you're at it (seriously)

[ExciteBike66]

5. But you understand my point

It's not necessarily that he is some sort of white savior, merely for pointing out the gun industry's latest strategy. By definition, any strategy put out by that industry is harmful. Guns are a problem, and more guns are more problems. Gun owners are also a problem.

[friendly_iconoclast]

6. Well, he made his point via white saviorism

Also, your arguments by assertion in defense of his statements are somewhat vague:

"By definition, any strategy put out by that industry is harmful. Guns are a problem, and more guns are more problems. Gun owners are also a problem."

If your own words, why are these things 'harmful' and/or 'problem(s)'?

[ExciteBike66]

7. "Why are guns harmful"

You are illustrating my comment about gun owners with this crap.

If guns were not harmful, the Army would still be armed with swords...

[friendly_iconoclast]

8. Just out of curiosity, did you ever have a classmate named Fred Colon?

"Sergeant Colon had had a broad education. He'd been to the School of My Dad Always Said, the College of It Stands to Reason, and was now a post-graduate student at the University of What Some Bloke In the Pub Told Me."

Terry Pratchett, Jingo

Also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_nauseam

https://www.google.com/search?&q=appeal+to+commonsense

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_by_assertion

Proof by assertion, sometimes informally referred to as proof by repeated assertion, is an informal fallacy in which a proposition is repeatedly restated regardless of contradiction. Sometimes, this may be repeated until challenges dry up, at which point it is asserted as fact due to its not being contradicted (argumentum ad nauseam).In other cases, its repetition may be cited as evidence of its truth, in a variant of the appeal to authority or appeal to belief fallacies.

This fallacy is sometimes used as a form of rhetoric by politicians, or during a debate as a filibuster. In its extreme form, it can also be a form of brainwashing. Modern politics contains many examples of proofs by assertion. This practice can be observed in the use of political slogans, and the distribution of "talking points", which are collections of short phrases that are issued to members of modern political parties for recitation to achieve maximum message repetition. The technique is also sometimes used in advertising.

[ExciteBike66]

9. I suppose you are convinced guns are not harmful...

even though that is their only purpose for existing.

[friendly_iconoclast]

10. That's quite the assumption of fact(s) not in evidence on your part

Don't take it too much to heart, it's a familar trope in the Gungeon

There is an active DUer that has used the same tactic for years against guns and gun owners, save that *his*
claim is that his personal editorial choices of pictures of groups of the people he despises provides the truth of
what he's saying about *every* member of said group(s)

The ban on hotlinking is really gonna cramp the style of him and his fellow practitioners
of 'argument via repeated assertion'