My conversation with a gun nut

Last edited Tue Feb 11, 2014, 08:26 PM - Edit history (1)

One of my conservative Facebook friends posted a picture of a gun that says, "Left my gun alone today. It didn't kill anyone." Not one to let such a stupid, condescending strawman stay unchallenged, I jumped into the melee.

First, another guy posted this:

"ban guns because it's what's killing people"
so if you ban crystal meth and crack, people will stop using it? It's just like what people say, guns dont kill people, people do. Mabye instead of teaching in-adimate objects lessons, teach kids of our generation some dicipline! seriosuly, so many people get away with stupid shit now adays. Also, I don't need a gun to kill people. I can beat them to death with fists, I can shove them in an oven and burn them alive, I can tie them up and throw them off the empire state building. Are you gonna ban my arms, fire, and rope? Ofcourse not. Here's an interesting quote, from one of our amendmants..bear arms, don't arm bears

Then I wrote this:

This is a great idea. If Curtis Reeves had left his gun at home, Chad Oulson wouldn't have died. If Michael Dunn had left his gun at home, Jordan Davis wouldn't have died. If Cladius Smith had left his gun at home, Ricardo Sanes wouldn't have died. If Raul Rodriquez had left his gun at home, Kelly Danahar wouldn't have died. I think you're on to something here.

She wrote:

I very much am because a gun doesnt pull its own trigger. Those people would have died regardless because (believe it or not) if someone wants to kill them, theyd do it by any means necessary. They couldve stabbed them. Should we outlaw knives? Choked em. Outlaw... hands? Lmao anyone who has shot a gun is aware of this

I wrote:

What's more likely to cause death? A fist, a sharp knife, or a piece of metal specially designed to cause massive damage penetrating the body faster than the speed of sound, ricocheting around the guts and bones? Comparing these things as if they're all the same is pretty illogical.

She wrote:

I would say.... a killer. Yeah, theyre most likely to. taking away MY guns legally does nothing. You do realize that guns are usually obtained illegaly by criminals right? Curious thought: do you own a gun, or license to carry?

I wrote:

No, and I never will. They are more trouble than they're worth. And before you accuse me of wanting to take everyone's gun away, I do not. I just want better safeguards to keep these deadly things out of the hands of criminals, the mentally ill and people with a history of abuse and aggression, like George Zimmerman and Michael Dunn.

She wrote:

Im not trying to accuse you of anything. In fact, I more than agree that criminals and the mentally ill shouldnt have guns. But if you've ever legally bought a gun or applied for a license youd realize that there are a lot of things put in place so that these people dont get them. Im not saying it always works because obviously theres still shootings. But most of the time, these guns were obtained illegaly or stolen. .. which is also obtained illegaly lol

I wrote:

Very good. I'm glad we found common ground. Maybe there's hope for this country yet

She wrote:

Hell yeah man


What a revealing conversation. Not only had she never heard about the cases I mentioned, but she thought the shooters would have still killed their victims if they used fists or a knife. As if Michael Dunn could have killed Jordan Davis by punching his windows, or Curtis Reeves could have punched Chad Oulson to death in the movie theater enough times before security got him off. Notice how she backed down when I destroyed her ridiculous comparisons. This is how you win, folks.