Are you afraid of guns?
You're not alone if you are. There are a lot of things to be afraid of and many of them ought to be feared. You could easily fall off of a tall building, so a fear of heights isn't entirely irrational. A man in a ski mask pointing a gun at you could easily shoot and kill, or possibly rape you, so a fear of armed robbers, home invaders and/or dark, deserted alleys and parks isn't entirely irrational. But is there any reason to fear a firearm in and of itself? Not really. In the hands of an evil person, yes, a gun is dangerous. But the fact is that you could take that gun away and put a knife or a steel pipe or a bottle of poison in that same evil person's hand and they would still be dangerous. On its own you are far more likely to injure yourself with an inanimate knife than an inanimate gun. While writing this ask yourself how many times you have accidentally cut yourself and how many times you have accidentally shot yourself.
The only purpose of a gun is to kill people. That is simply not true. Yes, guns can and are used to end human lives, but they are used for many other purposes. The first and most obvious is hunting, either for sport or sustenance. Guns are also used in defense against aggressive animals. A firearm is the fasted, safest and most humane way to put down any animal infected with rabies (think Cujo). If you're hiking with no intention to hunt down and kill an animal, but are suddenly confronted by a bear or mountain lion, you are not going to be able to call the police and have them show up with their guns in time to save you.
Another perfectly valid and legal reason to use a gun is for sport, target and competition shooting. Did you see the Olympics this summer? Have you ever actually visited a firing range? If you get over your initial fear of firearms you might just discover what literally hundreds of millions of people around the world have already found out; shooting guns is fun. You don't need to superimpose the face of your boss or enemy on the target or fear for your life to have a good time slinging some lead. Many ranges have firearms which you can rent at very reasonable prices, so you don't have to go out and buy a gun before trying out this immensely popular sport.
So why are so many people afraid of guns? There are lots of reasons, but hoplophobia is primarily caused by negative and inaccurate portrayals in media, ignorance about the actual mechanics of firearms contributing to a supernatural mystique and inability to control and punish violent behavior in humans. I own a movie in which a semi-automatic rifle is given the sound effects of a pump-action shotgun (clack-clack, boom!). Coincidentally, this "shotgun" was being used to kill cute, little puppies (the movie is Equilibrium, watch it before you assume that I just like to watch animals being killed for no reason). In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling, in keeping with predominant British thought on firearms, describes a gun as "a kind of metal wand that Muggles [non-magical people] use to kill each other". This not only ascribes some sort of magical power to firearms, but dismisses their non-violent use. Maybe if fewer people in Great Britain thought like J.K. Rowling does they would have more talent to draw from and brought home some more gold medals for their country from Beijing.
The 1994 ban on "assault weapons" in the United States showed that legislators are some of the most ignorant people when it comes to real-life firearms, despite the fact that their bodyguards and security likely used some of weapons they were attempting to ban. Many of the features banned had nothing to do with the function of the firearm, but were purely cosmetic. A pistol grip does not make a rifle fully automatic, but allows legislators to ban anything that looks like an M-16 or AK-47. A barrel shroud does not make a pistol more accurate or powerful, but allows legislators to ban anything that looks like a TEC-9. Being limited to having 10 rounds in a magazine didn't stop Seung-Hui Cho from killing 32 people; he simply reloaded again and again. Heaping more and more legislation onto law-abiding citizens is not going to reduce violent crime. Do you honestly expect a bank robber to obey the speed limit while they make their getaway? Why would you expect a suicidal murderer to opt for a knife instead of a handgun because of stricter gun laws?
The bottom line is that we cannot stop violence. As long as people have free will there will always be some who choose to harm and kill others. That is simply a fact of life. Passing laws to limit legal access to possible means of violence does not prevent violent behavior. Human ingenuity will most often discover to way to achieve a desired result. If someone wants to kill a lot of people you are not going to stop them from doing so by taking away their guns. Educating and training people about firearms would reduce the occurrence of accidental deaths and more accountability for negligence would protect the rights of trust-worthy, law-abiding gun owners. If you've fired a gun and don't care for it, that's fine, but don't turn around and try to take away the constitutional right of protection as well as sport in firearms that I and millions of others value. You will not succeed.
The only purpose of a gun is to kill people. That is simply not true. Yes, guns can and are used to end human lives, but they are used for many other purposes. The first and most obvious is hunting, either for sport or sustenance. Guns are also used in defense against aggressive animals. A firearm is the fasted, safest and most humane way to put down any animal infected with rabies (think Cujo). If you're hiking with no intention to hunt down and kill an animal, but are suddenly confronted by a bear or mountain lion, you are not going to be able to call the police and have them show up with their guns in time to save you.
Another perfectly valid and legal reason to use a gun is for sport, target and competition shooting. Did you see the Olympics this summer? Have you ever actually visited a firing range? If you get over your initial fear of firearms you might just discover what literally hundreds of millions of people around the world have already found out; shooting guns is fun. You don't need to superimpose the face of your boss or enemy on the target or fear for your life to have a good time slinging some lead. Many ranges have firearms which you can rent at very reasonable prices, so you don't have to go out and buy a gun before trying out this immensely popular sport.
So why are so many people afraid of guns? There are lots of reasons, but hoplophobia is primarily caused by negative and inaccurate portrayals in media, ignorance about the actual mechanics of firearms contributing to a supernatural mystique and inability to control and punish violent behavior in humans. I own a movie in which a semi-automatic rifle is given the sound effects of a pump-action shotgun (clack-clack, boom!). Coincidentally, this "shotgun" was being used to kill cute, little puppies (the movie is Equilibrium, watch it before you assume that I just like to watch animals being killed for no reason). In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling, in keeping with predominant British thought on firearms, describes a gun as "a kind of metal wand that Muggles [non-magical people] use to kill each other". This not only ascribes some sort of magical power to firearms, but dismisses their non-violent use. Maybe if fewer people in Great Britain thought like J.K. Rowling does they would have more talent to draw from and brought home some more gold medals for their country from Beijing.
The 1994 ban on "assault weapons" in the United States showed that legislators are some of the most ignorant people when it comes to real-life firearms, despite the fact that their bodyguards and security likely used some of weapons they were attempting to ban. Many of the features banned had nothing to do with the function of the firearm, but were purely cosmetic. A pistol grip does not make a rifle fully automatic, but allows legislators to ban anything that looks like an M-16 or AK-47. A barrel shroud does not make a pistol more accurate or powerful, but allows legislators to ban anything that looks like a TEC-9. Being limited to having 10 rounds in a magazine didn't stop Seung-Hui Cho from killing 32 people; he simply reloaded again and again. Heaping more and more legislation onto law-abiding citizens is not going to reduce violent crime. Do you honestly expect a bank robber to obey the speed limit while they make their getaway? Why would you expect a suicidal murderer to opt for a knife instead of a handgun because of stricter gun laws?
The bottom line is that we cannot stop violence. As long as people have free will there will always be some who choose to harm and kill others. That is simply a fact of life. Passing laws to limit legal access to possible means of violence does not prevent violent behavior. Human ingenuity will most often discover to way to achieve a desired result. If someone wants to kill a lot of people you are not going to stop them from doing so by taking away their guns. Educating and training people about firearms would reduce the occurrence of accidental deaths and more accountability for negligence would protect the rights of trust-worthy, law-abiding gun owners. If you've fired a gun and don't care for it, that's fine, but don't turn around and try to take away the constitutional right of protection as well as sport in firearms that I and millions of others value. You will not succeed.