Psychological Profiling

[cornstalk]

A very good friend of mine who grew up without guns has become somewhat tolerant toward them because of me. But he once said that when he sees slogans like "I'll give up my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead hands" (an NRA slogan) it makes him feel like those people shouldn't have guns. While I appreciate all the NRA has and is doing for us, I can see my friend's point. In these times we should do everything we can to behave calm and rational. With the new talk about increased sanity checks, they could start hiring psychologists to go around and declare us all insane!

Which reminds me, when I went to the gun show in Fredericksburg, VA last weekend, I was really impressed that with all the hundreds of people that were crowded in there at one time trying to buy ammo and firearms before they're outlawed, it was unusually polite and orderly. I think people are sobered by what they see going on around them. It was way more respectful than what I'm used to in the mall or Wally World. As I was leaving, a young man tried to come in the door the same time I was trying to go out. We both apologized and were respectful to each other. "Sorry sir." "No problem, you first." "Have a nice day." A girl sitting outside saw the whole thing and smiled at us both.

So contrary to what another non-shooter friend of mine said, we're not a bunch of crazy hillbillies missing all our teeth!

[reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw: "An armed society is a polite society" or something like that]

 

[Vile Shadow]

Interesting you mention that. I've been pondering a theory lately that corollates one's political leanings with their personality type. For example, we tend to be more easy going and laid back, while libs are usually temperamental and uptight all the time.

Thoughts?

 

[Boom Boom]

Same deal with pro-2A crowds at the recent rallies and hearings. Polite and respectful. Zero litter. Shooting the breeze with LE. Pleasant time had by all.

Substitute an anti-2A crowd instead and it's instant pushing, shoving, fights, violence against LE, etc. It's literally night and day.

 

[whistlersmother]

I once read that modern civilized society has made people rude and boorish. The old civilizations were much more polite - imagine getting a battle ax upside one's head for not properly excusing one's self...

When one sees what kind of damage firearms can inflict, one tends not to use them unless absolutely necessary. Indeed, some fencers believe that modern methods of learning sabre are not the best way to learn self defense. Having a suit to protect against nicks, jabs, and cuts reduces the mental aspect of avoiding them in the first place. It is this "mental aspect" - mental discipline - that is lacking in the liberals mind set. Why be polite and easy-going when one is protected by "civilized" law? Why exercise mental discipline when one imagines that everyone else is out for themselves? Indeed, the liberal mindset does not allow for an imagining of an altruistic other simply because each liberal sees themselves as non-altruistic and projects that onto everyone else.

Perhaps that saying, "An armed society is a polite society", applied then as it does now. I've been giving some thought to the phrase "peace through strength". If someone knows you are armed "to the teeth", why don't they come to your house to rob you anyway? Because you are strong through whatever means you've chosen (firearms in this forum). Thus, you have peace in your life. Now imagine someone who isn't armed, who is not strong. That person will not have peace because there will be others to rob him - even the perceived threat of being robbed diminishes his peace of mind.

"An armed society is a polite, peaceful society"

Well, you asked for thoughts. Perhaps mine are too rambling to be of use

 

[marte616]

Yep, same crowds you'll see at Walmart on Black Friday or when Nike releases their next "NBA star X" shoe....

 

[HappyCamper]

Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet LOL, OP, your post just made me think of that one.

And of course: Be nice until it's time not to be nice.

I am all for being polite to get our message across, but I also have no reservations about conveying the seriousness and the depth of resolve built from generations of Americans that have freedom in their blood and souls from centuries of free people that sacrificed everything willing to protect it.

OP, If you are squeamish about someone essentially saying "Live Free or Die" and suggesting that it could be a basis for a psych eval, I would counter with the opposite. Those who would fear a free society, fear inanimate objects, feel that they need to be guided and protected by others and ultimately work to limit the constitutional law of the land are the ones that are in need of some mental health consultation. They are obviously suffering from multiple abnormal phobias and paranoia - or at the least an elitist/commoner vision of grandeur complex that comes with the mindset of power and corruption and those who have drank the associated cool aide.

 

[WeaponsCollector]

People who say "from my cold, dead hands" tend to be people who know about the history of civilian disarmament.

 

[K31]

A very good friend of mine who grew up without guns has become somewhat tolerant toward them because of me. But he once said that when he sees slogans like "I'll give up my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead hands" (an NRA slogan) it makes him feel like those people shouldn't have guns. While I appreciate all the NRA has and is doing for us, I can see my friend's point. In these times we should do everything we can to behave calm and rational. With the new talk about increased sanity checks, they could start hiring psychologists to go around and declare us all insane!

Although Charlton Heston used the "From My Cold Dead Hands" phrase when speaking, I wouldn't call it an NRA slogan. I've seen it on bumper stickers for decades.

Ask your friend if he thinks the patriots at Lexington and Concord were somehow unstable. Afterall, they were fighting against their govenment's palns to confiscate their privately held arms. I don't think that was irational behavior.

 

[Gbh]

A very good friend of mine who grew up without guns has become somewhat tolerant toward them because of me. But he once said that when he sees slogans like "I'll give up my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead hands" (an NRA slogan) it makes him feel like those people shouldn't have guns. While I appreciate all the NRA has and is doing for us, I can see my friend's point. In these times we should do everything we can to behave calm and rational. With the new talk about increased sanity checks, they could start hiring psychologists to go around and declare us all insane!

2A and the restriction of gun owners's rights is a passionate issue for those who see the proposed legislation affecting them. "From my cold, dead hands" is an emotional respnse. If your friend doesn't have a vested interest in the legislation, he cannot appreciate the passionate statements made from those who feel the infringement.

If current proposed legislation was targeting something he had deep feelings about, for example, the government wants to remove computers from homes because someone once used a computer to insult another citizen on Facebook, the "cold, dead hands" statement may make it in to his vocabulary. It just depends on what people are willing to stand up for. For him, its not guns.

Is the "cold, dead hands" statement less inflammatory than "come and get it" and other statements regarding non-compliance? This is a historical time in the National and in Maryland. I hope your friends sees the big picture which is the erosion of rights in the U.S.

 

[44man]

Well everytime i have told someone that they can have my guns when they pry them from my cold dead hands or for them to try and take them i have meant it. to me its not a derogatory thing at all. i believe in the constitution and the bill of rights and the way this country was formed and the kind of people who formed it and those who have defended everyones freedoms here. if others dont beleive this way i feel sorry for them because it makes me feel like they have no compassion for this country and those who have proudly gone before us. so as far as i am concerned " they can have my guns when they pry them from my cold dead hands"
enough said...

 

[cornstalk]

The point wasn't to say the "pry my cold dead fingers" attitude was wrong, the point was, it's not winning any converts to our side. Pi$$ing liberals off is not going to help things any. And I believe someone said it correctly, that liberals in general are pi$$ed to begin with, without any help from us. When we get defensive it just gives them an excuse, at least in their own minds. Like Teddy Roosevelt said, "Talk softly and carry a big stick." When you have the big stick, you can afford to talk softly.

In fact I've noticed that anti-war people seem to have uncontrollable anger issues. Perhaps if they had a stick too, they could be more relaxed and less fearful.

 

[cornstalk]

Speaking of polite societies (as someone said earlier), here is one of my favorite TV clips, and it says it best. Also it demonstrates what the real danger is in our society - automobiles. They've already enforced mandatory registration on all automobiles and still claim more lives than all the firearms in the world. They should put a ban on them. Pay special attention to the bumper sticker at about minute 1:47.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBvysuewIOs

 

[tourrider]

Never give up your soul trying to convert the left.

That is not an NRA slogan. It is a slogan of people with a core belief in freedom and liberty. These are the are same people that will standby up to tyranny.


The libs fear what they cannot control, and it is hard to reverse irrational fear.

I hard a woman the other day on tv say she would rather die then defend herself.
Whiskey-tango-foxtrot!! You can't fix stupid.


So the only thing left to say is: "From my cold dead hands!"



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[K31]

The point wasn't to say the "pry my cold dead fingers" attitude was wrong, the point was, it's not winning any converts to our side. Pi$$ing liberals off is not going to help things any.

I think you have "Battered Gun Owners Syndrome". Trying to be an apologist just doesn't get you anywhere.

 

[teratos]

I think you have "Battered Gun Owners Syndrome". Trying to be an apologist just doesn't get you anywhere.

Nobody should be an apologist, but having a rational dialogue is exactly what we need to do. You have to approach liberals gently. You can't scream "from my cold dead hands". Make them think. Ask about their home defense plans, talk about recent home invasions. Tell them the police are not obligated to protect them. Once they arrive at the notion that they are responsible for their own protection, only then do you mention a gun.

 

[cornstalk]

More and more I try to do what works rather than what feels good at the time. Not that I'm always right. And I have said things just to piss off the left (or whatever person is annoying me at the moment). In fact I used to be quite an antagonist. It might make you feel good to give someone a verbal black eye, but over the years I've found that it often comes back to bite you, or hurts the cause in the long run - making things bad for someone else on your side.

Ignorant people are just better avoided. On both sides of any issue. There are the people in the middle who are reasonable (both pro and non-gun people), who haven't made up their minds, that can be influenced. Just like I did my friend. Those are the people I target my responses to. The rest I just avoid, shake the dust off my feet. Let life be their teacher. I don't have time.

 

[hvymax]

I hate punkass bagless eunuchs. I wish a bunch of "zombies" would violate them all in their homes to teach them a lesson. These Domestic Enemy ninnies are useless and beneath contempt.

 

[cornstalk]

I hate punkass bagless eunuchs. I wish a bunch of "zombies" would violate them all in their homes to teach them a lesson. These Domestic Enemy ninnies are useless and beneath contempt.

I think that's what happens at level 3.

 

[Major03]

It's an emotional issue for both sides. I see the OP's point, in that personal experience with firearms is a decreasing thing in America. As it declines, the control crowd has an easier time framing their false arguments, supported by media depictions of fully auto AR's blowing up cars (you're average viewer of TV doesn't understand it's packed with 600 lbs of tannerite and it's just special effects).

Statements like "From my cold dead hands" certainly express our frustration and passion over the issue. They also do little but play into the stereotypes that controllers paint for us.

Can we move the died in the wool liberals, I don't think so. No amount of logic or reason will move them from their philosophical foundation. But the long term fight is the perception of the average Joe and soccer Mom who is less tied to ideology and more swayed by popular opinion (and fear).

I've had many recent conversations where friends / colleagues who are on the other side of the "preventing gun violence" issue have been shocked and horrified to learn of the Warren vs. D.C. case, it's details and the decision of the SC. It has truly woken some of the up to the fact that the law of the land is that their family's safety isn't the government's responsibility, it's solely their own.

I personally like to respond with something along the lines of "providing for me and my family's safety is both my right AND my duty."

 

[ccarson]

I used to believe that reasonable compromise was the solution. Find the middle ground. I have come to understand that compromise is never going to work. "They" do not want compromise, they do not want me or you to have guns. It's not about the children or safety or stopping criminals. They do not understand and therefore fear ALL guns.
I am much more comfortable with "from my cold dead hands" now.