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    ********************Southwest Washington Surplus, your prepping supply store********************

    Monday, March 10, 2008

    Where did I find this?

    Damn. I found this through some other site this morning, but put it off while I was working, now I don't recall where I found it:

    Raging Against Self Defense: A Psychiatrist Examines The Anti-Gun Mentality

    The most important part:

    How can you communicate more effectively with an anti-gun person who is using unhealthy defense mechanisms? There are no quick and easy answers. But there are a few things you should keep in mind.

    Anger and attacks do not work

    Most gun owners, when confronted by an anti-gun person, become angry and hostile. This is understandable, because gun owners increasingly face ridicule, persecution and discrimination. (If you don't believe this, ask yourself if anyone would seriously introduce legislation to ban African- Americans, women, or Jews from post offices, schools, and churches. Even convicted felons aren't banned from such places – but peaceful armed citizens are!) But an angry response is counterproductive.

    It's not helpful to attack the person you're trying to persuade. Anything that makes him feel more fearful or angry will only intensify his defenses. Your goal is to help the person feel safe, and then to provide experiences and information that will help him to make informed decisions.

    Be Gentle

    You should never try to break down a defense mechanism by force. Remember that defense mechanisms protect people from feelings they cannot handle, and if you take that protection away, you can cause serious psychological harm. And because defense mechanisms operate unconsciously, it won't do any good to show an anti-gun person this article or to point out that he's using defense mechanisms. Your goal is gently and gradually to help the person to have a more realistic and rational view of the world. This cannot be done in one hour or one day.

    As you reach out to people in this way, you need to deal with both the illogical thought processes involved and the emotional reactions that anti-gun people have to firearms. When dealing with illogical thought processes, you are attempting to use reason and logic to convince the anti-gun person that his perception of other people and his perception of firearms are seriously inaccurate. The goal is to help him to understand that armed citizens and firearms are not threats, and may even save his life.


    I know I find it difficult sometimes to follow this advice, even though I have known it is the right approach. I shall make more conscientious efforts to do so.

    Also see this...

    Update: It was Da Goddess

    2 Comments:

    Blogger Joanie said...

    What was me? What did I do? Or say?

    Signed, Da Goddess

    9:01 PM  
    Blogger Larry said...

    It was your site where I found the article. Well played, madame.

    Sadly, I am never able to comment on your site: it always denies me due to "questionable content" no matter what or how innocuous.

    5:44 AM  

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