Last Friday, I posted a status on Facebook simply stating that I was angry and that it is time to stand up to the gun lobby. (And I kind of called semi-automatic owners psychopaths, but that's beside the point.) This snowballed into a week of debate about gun control between me and people from all over my life. Relatives, my ex sister-in-law, random high school classmates. (Isn't Facebook great - it's like one big small town!) My arguments became more and more passionate and I started doing research to become more and more knowledgeable about the topic. (I will admit to some tap dancing at first.) I have learned how to condense the argument down, remain on point, and put opponents into a corner. (And how to not call anyone a psychopath.)
These debates have been so illuminating. A week later, I have yet to have one person give me one good reason why people need assault weapons. They usually don't respond to the direct request, change the subject, or give one of two bad reasons: 1) I don't want the government to have too much power. (To which I have 2 words: Hellfire Missile) 2) I like them and I can have them and shut up.
What was awesome - I started to get messages from people thanking me for taking on the debate! They said they were afraid to jump in because they didn't want to offend people or seem "political". I got one email from a good friend in college that made me realize that what I was doing in important.
I pasted it below.
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