How To Talk About Guns
It’s the holiday season! That means many of us will be seeing family and friends. Maybe even arguing a little with some of them over eggnog and other such libations…
It’s always good advice (per the Canadian Firearms Safety Course) not to tell people you have guns and just watch the debate as a fly on the wall. But if you’re anything like us, you might find yourself caught in the middle of a conversation about guns and gun laws (per recent Bills being passed) and find yourself put on the spot for your thoughts on it all.
As people who work in the firearms business we find ourselves having these conversations a fair bit, so we thought we’d arm you with a few things to think about as you entertain these conversations over the holidays.
You can’t change hearts and minds in one conversation
Before we get to our short list of most common subjects, let’s first suggest that your job isn’t to convince someone guns are good and they should like them. Generally speaking, you won’t instantly “win”. You won’t change hearts and minds in one conversation. Letting go of that idea opens you to simply listening, validating, and treading carefully.
What does that mean? We find these conversations often come from a place of fear, so it’s not selling out the gun community if you acknowledge and validate that guns can be dangerous (they can!), gun crimes are scary (they are!), and that many people have been impacted by gun related violence (they have!).
Dear readers, as you already know, licensed gun owners are not the source of scary guns, gun crimes, or gun related violence. That’s generally a good thing to focus on in these conversation.
With the above all said, here are some common lines of conversation and things to think about:
Why does anyone need a gun?
In Canada, about 10% of the population owns guns. Hunting and predator defense are obvious reasons why people need them. Why does someone in the GTA need a gun? Aside from hunting outside of the city, sport shooting is a rewarding hobby. Sports like Long Distance Shooting or Trap and Skeet are challenging while other forms of competition are a lot like practicing any martial art. Most people aren’t learning Karate to get into fist fights, and gun owners practicing for competition aren’t doing so to get into gun fights.
We have a “gun problem”.
Many Canadians think we have a gun problem because our neighbours to the south have a gun problem. The fact is, in Canada, gun crime is going down (uncorrelated to legal changes affecting licensed gun owners, as far as we know). Our licensing process, storage and transportation requirements, and laws around firearms (in terms of what you can and cannot buy and how you are permitted to use firearms) are completely different than the U.S.. Most Canadians are unaware of these differences.
There’s a handgun problem.
The reason handguns are so prevalent in crime is they’re easy to smuggle and they’re easy to conceal. Handguns, legal to be owned by licensed gun owners, are not ideal for concealing. Furthermore, licensed civilians cannot carry handguns in public. Storage laws mean they’re securely stored and difficult to access unless at a shooting range. Experts agree the handgun violence issue is one of smuggling and criminals. Why does a licensed person shoot a handgun? Because handguns are particularly challenging to shoot well, and therein rewarding to practice with. That practice poses no danger to the rest of society.
Wouldn’t fewer guns would mean less gun violence?
There’s no significant statistical correlation we’ve ever seen between licensed gun owners and gun crime. We’d point out that fewer ILLEGAL guns would certainly mean less gun violence. Licensed gun owners are not a significant source of gun crime or violence, and they don’t lose guns at a rate high enough to make much difference to the numbers. Banning all legal guns in Canada wouldn’t change the illegal gun problem, and it’s unlikely to be viable given Canada’s vast wilderness and the importance of hunters and hunting to natural resource management and guns to predator defense (in farming, for example).
I wouldn’t want guns in my house!
That’s totally fair for someone to decide for themselves. Canadians have stringent safe storage responsibilities which render guns in the home fairly benign, which most Canadians aren’t aware of. That said, of course ‘guns in the home’ requires significant care and diligence. It’s also an option to store guns at some gun ranges; being a licensed firearms owner does not necessarily mean keeping guns in your home.
I’d be too scared to go shooting!
Fear is often from a lack of information. Invite them to learn more. Help them have a positive experience with firearms. Invite them to go shooting. Ease them in. Explain the process, educate them on safe handling.
Warn them about recoil and ultimately, start small. First hand exposure in a controlled environment will help ease people into the idea of shooting and firearms, and if you can show them the level of education, safety, and regulation required to shoot at a range, they might develop a more balanced opinion of firearms in Canada.
We always find that the best approach is to be patient and open to dialogue. Recognize that changing perceptions may take time and the best you can do in any conversation is represent the gun community well.
If you’ve encountered objections you think are particularly interesting, let us know!