Persuasion

In most parts of the country, I am politically a little left of center.  In my own area of the country, I am a raging Socialist.  Fine.  I embrace the socialist label, if it means I typically vote Democrat.  Still, I agree with more conservative political opinion on many things, gun control among them.  American citizens have the right to own guns.  When the Constitution was written, that meant muskets and rifles.  Today there are better guns out there, and American citizens have the right to own those better guns.  Your musket would be useless against someone with a semi-automatic, and would defeat the whole purpose of the second amendment.

Still, I choose not to own a gun.  That is also my right.  The Constitution guarantees that I have the right to own a gun, but does not give me an obligation to own a gun.  I have never heard anyone suggest that I should be required by law to own a gun.  Many have suggested that they think it’s a good idea to keep a gun, but suggesting ideas is not the same thing as passing laws, and I am okay with those opinions.  We can disagree without being jerks about it.

I am puzzled, however, by some of the sloganed pictures I’ve seen in social media.  For example:

These seem to suggest that it is okay to victimize me because I vote for more liberal political candidates and choose not to own a gun.  Don’t get me wrong:  I understand these are meant to be funny.  None of my friends and neighbors who own guns have ever threatened my person or my home.  But these and other “funny” memes bother me.  When the barrel of the joke is aimed at me, it does not feel like a joke.  It feels like a threat. 

When I feel threatened, I am inclined to get out of Dodge.  I am not persuaded to change my opinion.  I would venture to guess that other slightly-left-of-center people feel the same.  If those people happen to be in favor of gun control, I would guess they will not change their minds based on feeling threatened.  These are the people whose minds and votes are open to change.  No one will change the minds of extremists on either side of the political spectrum.  It’s almost pointless to try. 

I would argue, then, that this type of humor is counter-productive at best, harmful at worst.  Persuasion is how voting works: we persuade the majority of the people to believe the way we do, and we get our way.  Threatening, even in jest, is the exact opposite of persuasion.  Of course I want to take away the guns of anyone who points them at me.  We all can agree that we don’t want guns pointed at ourselves or our families.  Pointing metaphorical guns at people on social media will not persuade them to vote with you.  We should all be careful about the humor we post on Facebook and Twitter.  Even I, who am strongly in favor of the Bill of Rights, can be persuaded that your gun is dangerous if it’s pointed at me.