Bear down and take a liberal to the range

[amoebicmagician]

I know they can be infuriating,and they talk out of their asses, but hear me out.

Ammo is finally cheap anough again that it's feasible to spend some on 'good will' shooting sessions.

Although some are very set in their ways, many liberals are only the way they are because they have not been experienced to anything better.

I have a few Liberal co-workers that while still insufferable, have MUCH better views of 2A because I took them shooting.

Many liberals will be happy to go shooting just to be 'cosmopolitan' if they're hard core, and just because it's fun if they are what I call 'default liberals'.

The second group is who we are really gunning for. They have been indoctrinated by the schools and media, but they are still intelligent people.

Once you bring a liberal to the range, and they see how friendly and responsible 2A people are, and see how fun it is to shoot, you almost always have a convert on your hands. I've created 6 new gun owners this last year alone through this method. The gun range is a great backdrop to pepper them with some sense about how silly it is to deprive yourself of a freedom because someone else is uncomfortable,and get them to understand that the NRA is not some kind of political bogeyman. This last is EXTREMELY important. The media portrays the NRA as the KKK devil, out to rape and pillage.

We can win hearts and minds here, if only of the semi-undecided middle of the road liberal.

I know how hard it can be, I know how smug they are. Just bear up and get through it. Think of it as a public service.

That's my spiel

 

[j_h_smith]

I have done this for years. They like the day's activities but some will never admit that you should own any firearms.

Jim Smith

 

[amoebicmagician]

true, but even those people have a better perspective on 2A folks like us.

We're not all ravening rednecks to them anymore

 

[iH8DemLibz]

Can they be left there.....?

Foxes and buzzards gotta eat too.

 

[BradMacc82]

Um, NO. Frustration and firearms shouldn't mix.

I'll leave the 'take a lib to the range' to those with more patience and selective-hearing.

 

[Mooseman]

I don't know any liberals. I choose my friends carefully.

 

[kenpo333]

Take anyone who's never shot and show the fun of a new sport that is cheaper that golf and takes a little less athletic ability (sorry if I hurt anyone's feeling on that). If we each took five new shooters a year to the range it just might make a difference in a few years.

 

[Tito]

I would add, take any new shooter to the range. It is amazing how many new shooters are not aware of 2A.

 

[amoebicmagician]

we should defnitely continue that approach, but I consider those people likely to find their way to 2A eventually anyways

While it is a huge pain in the ass to deal with them, just be happy you have ear plugs so you don't ahve to listen to them whine.

It's for the children.

 

[wheelgun]

They always get skeeerd and run off when I put an orange targ dot on their forehead and prop 'em up on the 100 yd. berm

 

[md123]

I have this on my to-do list.

I'm surprised the NRA doesn't hammer this point home more often. It's more important than money or calling reps before a vote.

 

[Uncle Duke]

I'm not sure that "liberal" is the label that's in play here in many instances.

For many and perhaps for most, I'd suggest that the more proper label would be "uninitiated." Many people's only exposure to firearms comes from their daily dosage of news, and the reinforcement of that which they fear most. They're scared to death of guns. They associate guns and the people who use them with robbery, with rape, with cold blooded murder. They know of no other associations to make. By extension, they invariably see only that which they fear the most. From there they then make the irrational extension that if guns were to somehow become unavailable, the things that terrify them the most would somehow magically disappear as well.

For those so inclined to examine what they believe to be truth, a trip to the range can be the difference between a rabid and lifelong anti enemy, and a lifelong friend of 2A. It is incumbent upon each and every one of us to foster that transition, when and where and with whom that transition may be possible. There's no real substitute for that in my opinion.

 

[CityShooter]

When I first turned 18 and really got into shooting at ranges and being outdoors I was the only black guy around here that was that way. I, until recently, was the only black NRA member that I knew. I had friends who also associated the NRA to just being a group of all white men that loved guns and hated black people but I knew better from being around events and ranges. Recently though I have all my friends down with the NRA and more involved in the politics behind everything, our rights and the truth about the NRA. Now there is a healthy-sized group of us white and black men and women that love getting together to cook, eat, shoot etc. All friends and no segregation between anyone, it's fun and I love every moment....I still think about moving out of this state from time to time but I figured I was born and raised here I mind as well stay and see things through till the end and help get some of these laws changed.

 

[lawdog89]

I was thinking that taking a liberal to the range might be helpful. They can stand downrange and hold my targets for me. Just kidding.

 

[myright]

I don't know any liberals. I choose my friends carefully.

I dont think they last long in your neck of the woods

 

[Mooseman]

I dont think they last long in your neck of the woods

True, very true.

 

[amoebicmagician]

I feel like a neutral person who grows up in MD will lean left due to the mediam that's why I used the term default liberal rather than uninitiated.

But you are right- these are the people we can actively win over to our side, and cityshooter, that is the stuff I'm talking about.

Most of my black friends are sensible people, but almost without exception they had a negative view of the NRA- some still do, even ones that vote with us for 2A causes.

I think we just really need to get the truth out there, and every person I'v 'de-programmed' has then disseminated their new views to their family and friends, and some even bring people from their lives to the range and the cycle continues.

I promised myself I would get back onto this project of mine once ammo prices fell back to normal.

This is how we secure 2A for our children

 

[Lucca1]

I did just this over the summer and it was very interesting to say the least. Both times we started off with a .22 and ended with an AR. One of them just couldn't fathom why someone would want to own an AR but reluctantly agreed to go.

It was interesting to watch someone shoot an AR for the first time. Their expression changes from apprehension to that grin that everyone develops as they make their way through a 30 round mag. I don't know if this person will go again but they don't harp about gun control like they did before. The other purchased his first shotgun back in October and is now shopping for his first hunting rifle.

I think that it is extremely important that we introduce as many people to the shooting sports as possible, regardless of political affiliation.

 

[Winchester]

I have been doing this for some time now. I don't think I've created any die-hard Libertarians yet but they have softened on their naive fear of firearms. I'm not going to lie, I stand over them on-the-ready to grab the gun should they do something stupid. Getting a liberal to buy a gun is the true turning point.

 

[Bolts Rock]

I've taken new shooters out often. Usually end up taking them to buy a gun later.