Fear drives opposition to gun control

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. Of course it does.

There have been studies suggesting that conservatives in particular tend to be a fearful lot. Since they are easily frightened it doesn't take much to convince them that they need guns, lots of them, in order to be safe. Safe from what, you ask? If you are worried about being attacked by robbers in your home and you think a firearm would be a good thing to have, an ordinary shotgun is all that's necessary. They are simple to operate and don't require a lot of accuracy; what you don't need to protect your home from robbers is a whole arsenal of AK-47s and the like. Most people can shoot only one gun at a time.

If you work in an area or a profession where you are exposed to the threat of street crime, maybe a handgun would be appropriate. One of them. If somebody tries to mug you in a dark alley that single weapon would probably be all you need - there again, you won't need (or be able to use) an arsenal. Otherwise, what do you need any kind of gun for (I'm not referring here to hunters, target shooters and collectors)?

Unless you're afraid, and having guns makes you feel safer and stronger and more powerful.

Again, I am not referring to hunters and target shooters and collectors. I'm talking about those people - largely of the conservative stripe - who think they need a whole buttload of guns in order to be "safe." But, again, safe from what? The dangers most people might encounter in their everyday lives do not require a whole buttload of guns, although some of these Walter Mitty types might have fantasies about single-handedly blowing away an army of marauding welfare mothers, Occupiers and college professors, not to mention Islamic terrorists who have decided for some reason to invade their back yards in Bumfuck, Kansas.

If you start digging a little deeper, though, you will likely find that the fearful conservative thinks that what he needs a whole buttload of guns for is to protect himself from "the gummint." Because, after all, that's who wants to take them away from him - and then he won't be safe from them. (This begs the question of what will happen to him after the gummint takes his guns away - will they ship him off to a reeducation camp where he will be forced to enter into a gay marriage and convert to Islam and eat arugula?)

Get real, teabagger dude. If the gummint really wanted to invade your home and take away your guns and make you watch The Rachel Maddow Show, they can do it. Even if you have your very own AK-47 and a whole damn basement full of ammo, the gummint will always have more firepower than you can ever dream of. They'll win. If they got Osama bin Laden they can get you; your sad little gun collection isn't going to make a Navy Seal even blink.

Not that the gummint is actually interested in the sad little gun collection of Joe Teabag. But Joe Teabag doesn't believe that. And he's scared.

Enter the NRA, which has been throwing napalm on the fires of Joe Teabag's fright for decades. The NRA claims its only purpose is to stick up for the Constitutional rights of hunters and other law-abiding gun enthusiasts.

Right.

The NRA is, more than anything, the propaganda arm of the weapons and ammunition manufacturers, who are profiting mightily from the fears of all the Joe Teabags, who have been buying their products as fast as they can make them. All the NRA has to do to send Joe in a panic to the closest gun shop is get out the word that Obama and the Democrats are fixin' to take their guns away. Better stock up now, before it's too late! Otherwise how are you gonna defend yourself when the gummint and the black people and the Muslims bust right through your front door?

It's all about the fear.