...well, I've read the anti-gun friend threads and now I have one of my own...a bit of a long read, but some of the anti quotes are worth it...
OK, so I've known this woman for about six or seven years now...she went to med school with my wife and is a good friend of the family. She was over at our house, in bed with my wife and I...hmm...just to be clear she wasn't IN bed with my wife and I but sitting on our bed with us watching a movie (the only TV in the house)...we had it made up kind of like a couch...anyway, during an "intermission" when we stopped the movie to go and get some snacks, her eye catches the AR behind the curtain and so begins our scene. As some background, she didn't know that my wife and I are gun owners since we don't usually talk about this kind of thing with people if they aren't "in the circle"...anyway, back to the story: so she sees my rifle (and the shotgun next to it) and starts to motion like she is going to try to pick it up. At that point my wife and I ask that she not touch it...no yelling or being mean, just "quickly" so that she doesn't get to it before we tell her. Then she starts getting all worried looking. Saying (practically yelling) things like "OH MY GOD IT'S LOADED?!?" to which I replied instinctively, "All guns in this house are always loaded" (referring to The Rules not the actual status of the gun which was unloaded and locked). Then she really started to get upset thinking that she almost picked up a loaded gun and that she could have killed someone. Then the real interesting questions started coming out...I had a little bit of fun with her since she was starting to calm down by this point...it went something like this:
Her: "What do you need a gun like THAT for anyway?!"
Me: "A gun like what?"
Her: "A Rambo gun!"
Me: "What's a Rambo gun?"
Her: "I don't know....one that looks like that"
Me: "So your afraid of the way our guns look?"
Her: "Yes! Why do you have two of them next to your bed?"
My Wife's answer: "Have you seen the neighborhood up the road a few miles?"
My answer: "His & Hers"
Her: "So...what....if someone breaks into your house you're just going to shoot them?"
Me: "It depends on if they try to steal my stereo or not (cracking a joke to calm her down a bit more) ....but, in general, if they make an aggressive move toward anyone in my family then yes."
Her: "...."
Me: "I take it you grew up in a house without guns huh?"
Her: "Yep, we never had any guns....I HATE guns!"
Me: "Why do you hate guns?"
Her: "They scare me!"
After all of this my wife and I tried to talk her into coming to the range with us and showing her the proper handling and respect that firearms deserve. She said that she would go if I attended a belly dancing class with her....she thought that was a way out...but now I'm signing up for that belly dancing class :yup:
We are still very good friends and she has even said that she will be more than happy to be a personal character reference on our CCW permits. She just has the all to typical problem of being educated about firearms by the entertainment industry and the media. So it's time for a re-education on her part and my wife and I will be the teachers for now. We don't hold a grudge toward her anti comments but we will certainly try to show her the other side...and point out the some of the positive things about firearm ownership to her. We'll be taking her to the range with a nice non-scary single shot .22 rifle....and, with some luck, we will have another convert in time. Now...I wonder if I should mention that I've been to her house (and her parent's house) while packing...hmm...I think I'll wait a while to mention that to her! :rofl:
OK, so I've known this woman for about six or seven years now...she went to med school with my wife and is a good friend of the family. She was over at our house, in bed with my wife and I...hmm...just to be clear she wasn't IN bed with my wife and I but sitting on our bed with us watching a movie (the only TV in the house)...we had it made up kind of like a couch...anyway, during an "intermission" when we stopped the movie to go and get some snacks, her eye catches the AR behind the curtain and so begins our scene. As some background, she didn't know that my wife and I are gun owners since we don't usually talk about this kind of thing with people if they aren't "in the circle"...anyway, back to the story: so she sees my rifle (and the shotgun next to it) and starts to motion like she is going to try to pick it up. At that point my wife and I ask that she not touch it...no yelling or being mean, just "quickly" so that she doesn't get to it before we tell her. Then she starts getting all worried looking. Saying (practically yelling) things like "OH MY GOD IT'S LOADED?!?" to which I replied instinctively, "All guns in this house are always loaded" (referring to The Rules not the actual status of the gun which was unloaded and locked). Then she really started to get upset thinking that she almost picked up a loaded gun and that she could have killed someone. Then the real interesting questions started coming out...I had a little bit of fun with her since she was starting to calm down by this point...it went something like this:
Her: "What do you need a gun like THAT for anyway?!"
Me: "A gun like what?"
Her: "A Rambo gun!"
Me: "What's a Rambo gun?"
Her: "I don't know....one that looks like that"
Me: "So your afraid of the way our guns look?"
Her: "Yes! Why do you have two of them next to your bed?"
My Wife's answer: "Have you seen the neighborhood up the road a few miles?"
My answer: "His & Hers"
Her: "So...what....if someone breaks into your house you're just going to shoot them?"
Me: "It depends on if they try to steal my stereo or not (cracking a joke to calm her down a bit more) ....but, in general, if they make an aggressive move toward anyone in my family then yes."
Her: "...."
Me: "I take it you grew up in a house without guns huh?"
Her: "Yep, we never had any guns....I HATE guns!"
Me: "Why do you hate guns?"
Her: "They scare me!"
After all of this my wife and I tried to talk her into coming to the range with us and showing her the proper handling and respect that firearms deserve. She said that she would go if I attended a belly dancing class with her....she thought that was a way out...but now I'm signing up for that belly dancing class :yup:
We are still very good friends and she has even said that she will be more than happy to be a personal character reference on our CCW permits. She just has the all to typical problem of being educated about firearms by the entertainment industry and the media. So it's time for a re-education on her part and my wife and I will be the teachers for now. We don't hold a grudge toward her anti comments but we will certainly try to show her the other side...and point out the some of the positive things about firearm ownership to her. We'll be taking her to the range with a nice non-scary single shot .22 rifle....and, with some luck, we will have another convert in time. Now...I wonder if I should mention that I've been to her house (and her parent's house) while packing...hmm...I think I'll wait a while to mention that to her! :rofl: