GUN OWNERSHIP
IS NOT A
CRIME
Every change in human history
started as a simple idea that grew.
The Problem:
Gun ownership is a highly emotionally charged topic
on both sides of the issue. Those that have an agenda to reduce gun ownership
often exploit the emotions of the public to support restrictions on lawful gun
ownership. Seldom do these same people promote policies that would have an
effect on the criminal MISUSE of firearms or crime in general. Instead they
seem intent to turn public opinion against gun ownership as being a menace to
society, to equate guns only with crime or tragic accidents. They use
meaningless but highly charged terms like “Assault Weapons”, “Saturday Night
Specials”, “Illegal guns” and “Cop Killer Bullets” to inject fear about guns
into the public consciousness.
My personal experience:
Living part-time in California for years I’ve watched
as gun owners in that state have become subject to ever growing restrictions
and requirements. As a gun owner it feels as though the state presumes that all
gun owners are potential criminals. California gun owners have become very low
key. Gun clubs often to not advertise their location or even their existence
for fear that they will become the target of unwanted attention from
politicians or authorities. Gun owners have been forced into “the closet” by
prejudice against gun ownership. As public perception of gun ownership is
shifted to a negative bias gun rights are eroded bit by bit.
The mission:
I felt compelled to do something positive for safe,
legal and responsible firearms ownership. In short I wanted to create a simple
direct message that could possibly neutralize some of the prejudice against gun
ownership. The world is a chaotic buzz of information and noise in the 21st
century. The message would have to be very brief and clear. There is very
little time for details or real debate in modern times. So I distilled my
message down to this one simple idea. Admittedly it is clearly inspired by the
PR campaign that worked for skateboarding in decades past.
Actions:
I send stickers to gun owners who want to help
promote this message. All I ask is that they don’t let the stickers go to waste
in a drawer. Get them out into the public view. Tell friends about this
project. The idea is to plant a seed in
all that read it and hope that the idea germinates into a belief that owning a
gun is a very legitimate choice. If enough people hear the message often enough
perhaps it will have a positive effect.
How can you help? Get a sticker and place it where
the most people will see it. Then repeat often!
Get more stickers and give them to pro-gun friends.
Keep the idea handy, use it often in conversation and
emails.
Send the idea to politicians. Do it over and over
again.
Send links for this site to your friends.
Every time someone hears the message it drives the
idea a little deeper into the culture
For a free sticker send an self addressed stamped
envelope to:
Scott Toland
Box 251118
Glendale, CA 91225
For more stickers please include a small donation and
I’ll send you 6 stickers!
Before you know it you will be armed with a way to
spread a simple but powerful message to the world.
Please help; together responsible gun owners can make
this experiment in culture-change a success.
Beyond the message:
Having spoken to many people whom are biased against
guns I realize that the prejudice against guns, like any prejudice, is almost
entirely the result of ignorance of the issue.
It is natural that people fear that which they do not
understand. Ignorance seldom prevents people from forming an opinion, and
rarely do the truly ignorant believe that they are ignorant. On the contrary, I
find that people with prejudices always feel justified in their beliefs because
of their “knowledge” of the topic. Have you ever known a person with a bias
against guns who actually knew anything about guns? I haven’t, but they will
often quote anti-gun myths or distortions they have heard from anti-gun
politicians trying to scare up votes or from anti-gun activist groups. Learning
about guns from the Brady Campaign is like learning about black people from the
Ku Klux Klan!
Truth is the enemy of fear and fear is the root of
prejudice.
The single best way to counter bias against guns is to
educate people about the truth of the subject.
Independent polls show that about one third of
Americans freely admit to being gun owners. (I suspect that the actually
numbers are higher)
The same poll shows that gun owners clearly view gun
ownership differently than non-gun owners.
Imagine if every gun owner took a friend who was not
a gun owner to the range and educated them about gun fact and gun safety versus
gun myth and rhetoric. I believe that the effect would be tremendously
positive.
As a good start gun owners who care about their
rights should be prepared to speak intelligently about the topic to non-gun
owners. Here are some links to sites that provide solid information about gun
ownership.
My
page about so-called “Assault Weapons”
(I have no affiliation with these organizations or
control of their sites.)
NSSF
information regarding general gun related issues.
“GunFacts.info” A
well written site by another grass roots activist.
Why and how:
I host this site the print and send stickers as a give-back
to the gun owning community. I pay for this out of my own pocket because I feel
strongly that this message should be heard so that future generations will be
able to enjoy the freedom to own practical firearms for security, hunting, and
recreation. I am only one man with one voice and one vote. I have created this
small grassroots effort in hopes that I may, in some small way, inspire and
enable other like-minded citizens to spread a simple message.
Thank you for the support!
Scott Toland