Obama: Gun-control advocates have to listen more

[Demo_Chris]

44. Nice post! (text below)

Great post. You talk about keeping the emotions then discard them to pen a thoughful reasoned argument and a proposal that would actually accomplish what you want. Anyway...

You (or I) might want to ban all semi-automatic weapons, but this is not going to happen. It cannot pass the House, it cannot pass the Senate, President Obama would not sign it, and the USSC would strike it down. And even if we could magically change all of that, it would result in violence on an unimaginable scale. If only 1% of the current NRA membership (never mind gun owners at large) became potentially violent or otherwise refused to comply, we are talking about 400,000 armed and potentially violent militants -- all CONVINCED that they are the good guys, that they are righteous freedom loving Patriots willing to lay down their lives for you and your children.

Crazy or not it irrelevant, this is what they believe. And the real number isn't 400,000 -- it's MILLIONS.

Efforts to make them change their mind through name-calling and villification cannot work, nor will gun bans. Both simply validate their beliefs. They fear people are coming for their weapons, and look at that, they're right! And further, they are also correct about the secind amendment, the founding fathers did include that as a defense against a tyrannical government (among other things). How relevant that is today is another topic entirely.

We can only win by understanding what they believe, accepting the reality of their concerns and opinions, and by working with them to accomplish meaningful reform that addresses their concerns. We must make them part of the solution or they will become the problem.
How is a another question.

Final note: You said you are PRO-KNIFE

Are you aware that many places have fanatical laws against knives and other non-firearm self defense tools? I currently live in Texas, where you would think carrying a freaking Claymore would be totally cool, and even here knives are strictly controlled. As is, amazingly, pepper spray. I looked into this last year and I was astonished. If I want a weapon I can carry basically anywhere, including almost any state, the only choice I have is a gun. Even pepper spray is not necessarily legal, and a canister that was fine in this town is a felony the next city over. It's ridiculous.