Why men feel the need to carry guns (cross post)

[Duckhunter935]

from a regular poster in the other gun group.

flamin lib

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-carlson-gun-carry-culture-20150526-story.html

As men doubt their ability to provide, their desire to protect becomes all the more important. They see carrying a gun as a masculine duty and the gun itself as a vehicle for a hardened kind of care-work — caring for others by shielding them from danger, with the threat of lethal force.
====
We tend to get mired in public policy debates that isolate the impact of guns on violence, and nothing more. We wonder to what degree they contribute to suicide rates or homicide rates. But firearms have a larger purpose in our postindustrial society. In Michigan and other places hit hard by the economic downturn, men's guns can address social insecurities far beyond crime.



Yes, it's an Op Ed but an Op Ed based on interviews with gun carriers. From the interviews it seems that the need to carry guns is based, in many cases, on a feeling of impotence.

Interesting to note that the two ads supporting the article are a PSA for HepC and Viagra.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12628924

What is it about the pro-control side with the sexual references? And they wonder why they are not supported by the mainstream in their final goals. I always followed the boyscout mantra, "Be prepared". I do not carry but I am licensed to and it has nothing to do with that bull.

[GGJohn]

1. I saw that and had a good belly laugh that they actually believe that.

[petronius]

2. Two paragraphs that jumped out at me in the column:

First, this one

My interview subjects cast themselves as "good guys with guns" tasked with assisting the vulnerable among us. As they practiced shooting their firearms, they imagined scenarios in which women and children might need their help: a man with a rifle in a schoolyard full of kids; a woman being raped in an alley; an armed robber targeting a diner waitress.

Although everything preceding it seemed to have attributed quotes and made specific reference to interview subjects, this section didn't. Did these people she interviewed actually report having these fantasies on the range, to any significant degree?

Immediately thereafter, this oddly-phrased and dismissive comment

The gun carriers I met did not frequently attempt to stop crimes, but when they did, they tended to play the role of hero, defending a damsel in distress. Two gun carriers told me they had intervened in domestic disputes, both relying on their firearms to persuade the assailant to desist.

If two of her respondents actually intervened in domestic disputes, is that really a 'role-playing' that deserves what sound to me to be a mocking tone? And if they're not frequently attempting to stop crimes, doesn't that run counter to the notion of gun carriers as vigilante fantasists?

[linuxman]

3. Well, there it is.

The dumbest thing I'm going to read all week.

[Shamash]

4. The week is young and Flamin Lib is prolific...

[ileus]

6. I doubt it....the 2A regressives have way more silly shit than this to spew.

It's who they are, it's what they do.

[NaturalHigh]

8. I wish I could believe that this time.

[ileus]

5. They'll never get it, they like being sheep and you should too.

They want to increase the easy victim pool so their chances of attack go down.

If death, rape, and robbery is good enough for them, it's good enough for you.


What is a polite thing to call someone that won't protect their family???

[NaturalHigh]

7. These people really need to address their own sexual insecurities.

Anybody who is that obsessed with another entire group's sexuality has some issues that need to be addressed.

[Duckhunter935]

9. Very true

[ileus]

12. It's odd how they confuse personal safety and care of ones family with sex.

Let's face it they only say silly horse shit like that out of ignorance and arrogance. They believe they hold some moral high ground because of their willingness to be victims.

Hell I don't know...

[Lurks Often]

10. Infantile psycho babble by people who want to control other people's lives and choices

posted in Castle Bansalot by one of the usual suspects.

Definitely near the top of the list of idiotic and useless posts this week

[benEzra]

11. They have to believe that, because they can't allow themselves to believe

that someone could choose differently from them for any rational reason. Most of the gun control movement as currently constituted (particularly since 2012) isn't built on policy analysis or risk/benefit calculation, but on contempt for gun owners as a despised outgroup, and hence gun owners can never be seen to be acting out of rational thought. Gun ownership may be seen as a sin, or as a compensatory outgrowth of base impulses, or as mindless slavery to corporate advertising, but it can never be allowed to be seen as a choice that a rational individual may make for herself.

As an aside, I do hold a NC carry license, and my carry gun is one of these, which (being a Lady Smith) is about as non-macho as one can get:



I notice that the haters don't like to acknowledge that women choose to own guns and obtain carry licenses, either, as doing so would undermine their contempt; instead, they portray women as neo-Victorian incompetents when it comes to guns and gun ownership.

[ileus]

13. I've never seen one of those...is that a poly frame?

There's a Chief Special in 45 on one of my Facebook groups now listed for 500, that I'd love to have.

[benEzra]

14. It's aluminum alloy...not sure if 6061 or 7075. Pre-scandium, but has held up great

in spite of lots of shooting, including various +P (including Cor-Bon's very hot 1300+ ft/sec +P load).

S&W started with the basic 3913 (single-stack 3rd-gen S&W semiauto) and made some modifications to appeal to female shooters, namely a better shaped grip frame, a better trigger, the more neutral gray grips instead of the black grips of the standard 3913, and a single-side safety instead of ambi for a slimmer profile. Even now, the Lady Smith variant of the 3913 is widely regarded as one of the best 3rd-gen semiautos S&W ever made. Capacity is 8+1, with a 3.5" barrel.

The Lady Smith model was enough of an upgrade over the standard 3913 that S&W eventually came out with a limited run of Lady Smiths with no logo; those are sometimes referred to as the 3913NL.

[Duckhunter935]

15. I have noticed that

It seems they forget about the millions of female firearms owners and CCW license holders.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

16. You know what galls me? The fact that the Controllers seem determined to cast this as solely

a man's issues. You don't see the commentaries -- "What is she afraid of?" or "She's just compensating for a sense of sexual inadequacy" or "She's a gun humper" or "She has a hero complex"

If the Controller narrative were taken as presented one would conclude girls don't like guns.


Phooey! Sexist drivel.

[Duckhunter935]

17. I am curious on how they justify that thinking

But since they will not come to this group as it allows both sides and is not a "safe haven" they require, I doubt we will ever get that.

Maybe the host from that group will answer as he is nice enough to join us here at times.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

18. We've seen several refuse to affirm a woman's right to self defense.

In GD I was even castigated for having a callous disregard for human life when advocating a woman be allowed to shoot a rapist. In fairness that poster later apologized (in a PM) but the scolding is still there.

I suppose good girls are supposed to lie back and try to relax.

[shadowrider]

20. Nah..women can fight back

by peeing before their attacker "attacks". That's supposed to stop everything, so I've heard.

http://jezebel.com/5985902/university-of-colorado-told-women-to-avoid-rape-by-peeing-vomiting-and-menstruating-on-command

edited to add link

[Lizzie Poppet]

21. Or use a can of beans, of course.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

22. You mean throw one at Bloomberg?

[Lizzie Poppet]

23. More dangerous, but FAR less smelly than what I'd like to throw at Bloomberg.

[Eleanors38]

19. "Damsel in distress?" She is in no need for my or anyones defense.

MSM has to recycle these crypto-psycho theories once in a while when things get slow.