So I was out with some people (my friends as well as some of their friends) and somehow conversation went to recent crime events (can't even remember which news story brought up the topic). I have brought up the topic of handguns and I was stunned by some of the reactions.
So the second I mentioned the word handgun: not even in the context of a CCW or shooting someone, just in the context of owning one, things got ugly. A person who I have never met before in my life just verbally started assaulting me for promoting violence. Couple of my friends rolled their eyes with the "oh brother.... this is gonna be interesting" and tried to calm the other person down. Talk about a futile effort. Seeing that, I did not even want to think about having a discussion on the topic as I knew that no matter what I'll say she'll just keep getting louder and louder. So as she was trying to catch her breath in the middle of hte tirade, I interjected and said the following:
"I really respect your opinion and while I do not necessarily understand the reason for your strong feelings on the topic I would kindly ask that you respect my opinion and beliefs in gun ownership and self defense and do not judge me for them."
Talk about deflating a baloon. I thought I could hear the air being vented from the puncture. Her eyes got big, the mouth opened and closed and opened again and that was the end of it. Noone has said anything else about guns through the rest of the evening.
As everyone was leaving later on that evening, I had someone (again a person that I have not seen before that night) walk up to me and say the following:
"While I am pretty much against guns on a moral basis, I do not feel attacking people for their beliefs in such a manner is appropriate, and I would like to appologize for my friend. Also I would like to say that I really admire your approach to what has transpired and must admit that it has given me something to think about when it comes to gun enthusiasts. Seems that there are those who are level headed amongst them and I just wish that there were more like you amongst them".
This time it was my turn to get stunned as at that point my jaw dropped, then my mouth closed and openend and closed and opened again. By the time my jaw returned to it's normal operating mode she was turning away and walking away and all I could stutter out was "thank you".......
So the second I mentioned the word handgun: not even in the context of a CCW or shooting someone, just in the context of owning one, things got ugly. A person who I have never met before in my life just verbally started assaulting me for promoting violence. Couple of my friends rolled their eyes with the "oh brother.... this is gonna be interesting" and tried to calm the other person down. Talk about a futile effort. Seeing that, I did not even want to think about having a discussion on the topic as I knew that no matter what I'll say she'll just keep getting louder and louder. So as she was trying to catch her breath in the middle of hte tirade, I interjected and said the following:
"I really respect your opinion and while I do not necessarily understand the reason for your strong feelings on the topic I would kindly ask that you respect my opinion and beliefs in gun ownership and self defense and do not judge me for them."
Talk about deflating a baloon. I thought I could hear the air being vented from the puncture. Her eyes got big, the mouth opened and closed and opened again and that was the end of it. Noone has said anything else about guns through the rest of the evening.
As everyone was leaving later on that evening, I had someone (again a person that I have not seen before that night) walk up to me and say the following:
"While I am pretty much against guns on a moral basis, I do not feel attacking people for their beliefs in such a manner is appropriate, and I would like to appologize for my friend. Also I would like to say that I really admire your approach to what has transpired and must admit that it has given me something to think about when it comes to gun enthusiasts. Seems that there are those who are level headed amongst them and I just wish that there were more like you amongst them".
This time it was my turn to get stunned as at that point my jaw dropped, then my mouth closed and openend and closed and opened again. By the time my jaw returned to it's normal operating mode she was turning away and walking away and all I could stutter out was "thank you".......