Kevin Baker has an interesting look at guns through the prism of the Aliens dvd.
Through the interviews, he discerns something that the Posse has noted before: much of the anti-gun sentiment comes from fear of the power that guns represent.
Many gun control advocates simply don't trust themselves with guns. Letting other people have them is out of the question.
The Posse has seen this time and again. Years ago, we overheard a conversation in a restaurant between a group of gun control supporters. One was recounting how he had defeated a would-be mugger using pure intimidation and his fists.
"I didn't need a gun," he said proudly. "And if I had had one, why I was so mad, I don't know what I would have done."
Most likely, he wouldn't have done anything, since just showing the gun will deter most criminals.
More importantly, he was a tall young man - someone who looked like he could do well in a fist fight.
Were he an 83-year-old lady, his experience probably would have been different.
Both of these concepts have been debated before, but what gets little attention is the notion that, given a gun, the average person will turn into a homicidal maniac.
Our young mugging victim expressed fear that is probably common among gun-control types: fear of responsibility.
When one handles a gun, one handles power. It is the power of life and death.
This can be quite overwhelming for someone not used to it. It takes time to "demystify" a gun and come to see it as a tool.
For many shooters, this isn't much of a big deal. Those brought up with firearms never really have to deal with this: guns are tools and must be respected. Nothing mystic about them.
But for suburbanites and social elites, guns are mysterious and strange, artifacts of power they neither understand nor trust themselves around. Certainly they don't trust anyone else, other than police, who through their training are assumed to be immune from the homicidal vibes the guns give off.
This blog could probably be run entirely on testimonials from people who changed their minds once they came to know guns. It happens all the time and the Posse is pleased to have helped several people overcome their fear and learn the true pleasure of shooting.
But for many gun-controllers, even taking that step is too much. Guns are taboo, and so their beliefs (and fears) are never challenged.
What is so amusing about this mentality is that it often goes in tandem with the notion that those who own guns are somehow insecure or afraid.
Guns are mocked as phallic symbols, since people of real courage need no such object to strengthen their will.
The Posse finds this pretty damn funny. Most gun owners we've met never bother much with the "deeper symbolism" of their guns. They are tools, pure and simple. They have the same symbolic significance as our car keys and wallet: stuff we bring with us because it's useful.
Indeed, the Posse loves to hear these intellectuals spout off, because it's obvious that if anyone has psycho-sexual isses with guns, it's these singing eunuchs who find the need to defend their virility by slamming others.
It is a paradox, to a certain extent: gun controllers fear the responsibility of guns, but claim to have more courage because they deny themselves the "phallic crutch" that a gun provides.
This allows them to claim bravery and self-confidence while allowing them to cower in fear from the responsibility guns embody.
This post has gone a little long and has perhaps approached the matter with more depth than it deserves.
Suffice to say that shooting is fun simply because it is fun. One needs no adolescent power fantasies to enjoy putting a nice tight group in the center of the target or to watch a sporting clay vaporize with a well-placed shot.
If you haven't tried it, you don't really know what it's all about.
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