Educate. Train. Maintain.
In recent months, the firearms community at large has taken a beating, and we’ve got the black eye to prove it. It’s the kind of black eye that doesn’t seem to heal or go away. Why is that? Why are law abiding gun owners being portrayed as the bad guys, the loons, the unreasonable “clingers”?
Why are journalists comfortable printing all of the registered gun owners’ addresses in a given town? Why are tens of millions of responsible and law abiding Americans being punished for the actions of a handful of psychopaths? We are 26 times more likely to be killed by a drunk driver than by a semi-automatic rifle and yet, our legislators rarely call for stricter drinking and driving “control”. Why can’t we seem to get rid of this black eye?
I suggest that it’s because we don’t get sufficient rest between fights and try to better heal from our wounds to be stronger, later. When we persistently fight without better organization and strategy, we simply become loud and obnoxious, and ineffective. We become unable to convince anyone that our cause is just, that our motives are pure, or that our passion is neither contrived nor barbaric.
We, the gun community, have a branding issue. We have let the media control the narrative for far too long and it’s about to have some serious consequences if some within the federal government have their way.
UtahGunExchange.com came about because four friends saw an immediate need—the need to maintain the marketplace of exchange for private party gun sales in Utah. We didn’t create this site out of anger or malice towards KSL. Not one of the co-founders of this site wrote a single note of disgust to KSL, though many Utahns felt compelled to do so. Shortly after launching our site, we ran into one gentleman who said that he was sending several dozen nasty emails to KSL each day because he was so angry! This is why gun owners have a branding issue.
As we read through the comments that KSL received on their Facebook wall that night, we were disappointed in the number of vengeful messages left by fellow Utah firearms owners. That’s not to say that we didn’t also feel identical outrage, but convey it as these folks did helps make all gun owners look exactly the way the media so often portrays us—and it did us no good. It did not further our cause and it did not convince others to join us.
Instead, it just gave us all another black eye.
The good news is that there are three things we can do to heal this black eye before it’s too late.
Number one: Educate. We need to educate not only others about the differences between a military M-16 and a civilian version of the same rifle, but we need to educate ourselves within the Utah firearms family, starting with the proper and safe methods for buying and selling firearms to other Utah residents.
Do you know what the relevant laws are with certainty? Do you have your concealed firearm permit? No? Then go get it. Yes? Great, go audit a class. Find a concealed firearm permit class being taught near you and go listen to the instruction. There is not an instructor in the state that will prohibit you from sitting in on their class, to simply get a “refresher course” on Utah gun laws. The same thing applies for those folks who have no desire to get a permit but would like to become more familiar with the very basics of pistol operations and the laws regarding their use in the state—the same message applies: go audit a class. No instructor will charge you a dime for sitting in on their class if they aren’t stamping your application for a permit at the end. For those of you who have been procrastinating getting your permit for months, or even years—there is no time like the present. With the right instructor, the Utah CFP course can be a great stepping stone to learning the basics. Find an instructor here.
The second part of “Educate” that must be addressed is the manner in which we educate others once we have educated ourselves. We, Utah gun owners, are a passionate bunch, but let’s consider taking it down a notch and learn how to communicate our passion in a polite, respectful manner. There are those out there who will never fully grasp why we “need” a 30 round magazine or a half dozen black rifles, so let’s stop wasting our breath. Instead let’s seek out those who respect life, liberty, and property but have never been properly introduced to a civil and knowledgeable gun owner. Be that guy or gal who kindly answers those “simple” questions to the first timers. Offer to take them shooting with you next time you head to the range. Don’t hand them a .500 S&W for their first experience shooting so you can put the video up on YouTube and have a good laugh. Be better than that, start small. A simple .22lr revolver or whatever you think the shooter will be most comfortable with will do just fine. Understand that there may be years of programming—“guns are evil”—that will take time to reverse, even baby steps to overcome. Be patient and understanding if they exhibit anxiety just holding a pistol. These kind of actions and conversations will go a long way in dispelling and rebranding the image of Utah gun owners.
This leads us to action item number two: Train. We’re not talking six days a week, 1,000 rounds down range a month, and learning to Army crawl through your backyard, although that sounds like a blast. For most people, a basic pistol shooting course will go a long ways in improving skill sets. There are dozens of firearms training companies in Utah (not all are created equal). Ask around, talk to other gun owners, or your local gun shop, and find out who they recommend. When I purchased my first AR style rifle I went to my local range and asked if I could pay a range safety officer to walk me through the basic break down of the rifle. Took thirty minutes, cost me $20, and I retained more from that half hour than I did from watching 4 hours of YouTube videos demonstrating the same thing. If you are going to buy a membership to somewhere like Front Sight, go use it! If not, spend your money locally with the dozens of training companies available in Utah. Find a training course here. Whatever you do, do something. Don’t just take the Utah CFP course and think you are good to go. Get training.
This leads us to the third and final action item: Maintain. Maintain the skills you learned in training and spent all that money on! Make sure you practice on your own and keep improving. Join a local gun club, enter an IDPA match, buy an annual membership to a nearby range and put 50 rounds “down the tube” during your lunch breaks. There are any number of things you can do to maintain your proficiency. Additionally, “Maintain” encompasses our focus on our current rights and laws. As Utahns, we have some of the best laws in the country when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms, but that could disappear faster than we realize.
Maintain your vigilance and passion for the Second Amendment by paying attention to who you are electing locally and what they do once they are elected. All of the power to regulate firearms in Utah rests with the state legislature. Do you know who your Representative and Senator is? Do you know where they stand and how they will or won’t vote regarding upcoming firearms bills? It’s time to find out. As you discuss this topic with them don’t forget what we addressed in “Educate”—be polite but firm. Perhaps your representative isn’t as well versed in the world of firearms as you are, so take the time to educate them so we can maintain our rights in this great state.
We’ll never convince the Piers Morgans of the world that we need our guns to keep us safe from common criminals and to keep tyranny at bay, but that’s okay because we don’t need him. We simply need those that have not yet decided which side they are on. So let’s try to be a little more conscious of those folks as we discuss buying and selling guns in Utah. Be smarter, kinder, and more creative when addressing the newcomers as we train with them. Finally, let’s be more vigilant in maintaining the rights that our forefathers fought so hard for us to be able to enjoy.
Educate. Train. Maintain.
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Nice article. I hope the Utah Gun Exchange will support the local Appleseed Project to encourage people to maintain and grow their skills. http://www.appleseedinfo.org/
^Agreed, Alex Jones did the gun community no favors last night on Piers Morgan’s show. We need to all be better ambassadors of responsible gun ownership.
We become unable to convince anyone that our cause is just, that our motives are pure, or that our passion is neither contrived nor barbaric.
Precisely! We need to be wise about our comparisions as well. I recently seen a a pro gun poster that ended up blaming Obamacare for medical malpractice deaths. In my view, it made us look like fools.
spelled comparisons wrong. sorry.
Very well said , I think we need to better educate everyone about gun safety and keeping them out of the reach of our children no matter how old they are.
A story;
My wife is from The Netherlands where not even the police have guns. She married me, a guy who owned – at the time – 3 times more guns than pairs of shoes. She was and is supportive of my hobby/passion/need to protect my family. She is familiar with guns and gun safety but doesn’t choose to pursue the hobby. Yet.
My Father-in-Law started out a typical Opinionated European who thought it his duty to inform me that “guns are dangerous” and so forth every chance he got. At least he THOUGHT it was his duty until I took him shooting with me a few days before the wedding. He went only because my brother-in-law and his girlfriend were going and he didn’t want to be stuck at the house. On the way out he mentioned at least 3 times that “guns are dangerous”.
After about 20 minutes of training on the basics of gun safety and operation (none of them had ever even SEEN a real live gun before) all but my FIL took turns trying .22s at pop cans – those cheap sixpack half-pops you get at Wal Mart – and had lots of fun watching them explode when hit (hint – get DIET cola, more action!). My FIL was hanging back just watching but I could tell he was intrigued and might even be enjoying himself a little. Just a little. So after the 3 of us had shot 4 or 5 different guns and were resetting some targets I asked him if he’d like to try my cowboy-action 45LC Vaquero at a 2-liter bottle of cheap Ginger Ale. To my surprise, he shrugged his shoulders and said “sure, why not?’. I showed him how to load, cock, hold and aim the gun and stood just behind and off to the side to make sure he did it right. We all watched with much anticipation to see what would happen. First shot was in the dirt just in front of the bottle, second shot nailed it dead center and it exploded, spraying pressurized Ginger Ale all over the hillside in a big foamy show. I watched my FIL intently to see his reaction. First a grin, then a BIG smile followed by “Wow, THAT was fun!” He shot the rest of the cylinder, then took a try later with my Winchester 94 Trapper in .357 and hit several more targets.
On the way home, he commented “I still think guns are dangerous, but they can be a lot of fun too!” and I took the opportunity to share about education and training being the key to making sure guns are the safe, enjoyable recreation tool I use them for.
Mission accomplished. Step one anyway. That was 9 years ago. He’s going Clay Pigeon shooting with me this weekend, we’ll see if I can keep up.
Great story! thanks for sharing. It’s moments like these that will be the most effective. Arguing about it on facebook doesn’t do much to convince people
Great story! Thanks for sharing….
We need to see more normal and level headed people in the media, not the dumb redneck, or the gun hoarder and doomsday conspiracy theorists. Those are the only people the media can find and those are the people that creep my wife out and push her away from becoming/associating/joining their same cause. She and so many others need to see the normal side of life, the rights, be aware of the unknown dangers that can knock on your door and break in. These things happen and we all need to be proactive about it and not reactive or become the victim.
Education feels good, but many of the masses are too stupid to get a clue in this lifetime. You’ll always be in the minority, no matter how many lectures you give, or gun trainings you offer. And even if you get a majority, so what? Your politicians laugh at the majority will. Most people want to restrict the power of banks, ban taxpayer-funded abortions, etc., but how often does anything good happen on these fronts?
If you want to preserve some of your rights in statute, politicians need to fear you too much to mess with you. Whenever one of them does attack you, IN ANY WAY, he/she needs to experience intense and prolonged political pain. Make his/her political life an abject hell, so that no forum, group, or venue offers him/her any relief. It’s like whack-a-mole, except you keep beating him/her (politically — don’t pretend I’m talking about violence) until he/she is whimpering and cowering for mercy.
Then you politically beat him/her some more, just so he/she never forgets, and so his/her colleagues scramble to do all they can to never get anywhere near the political carnage he/she suffered. Make him/her a pariah, so that you can almost hear his/her colleagues yell, “Unclean!” as they run away from him/her in the capitol halls and in public. Let your political enemies help educate the masses by how scared they are to confront you.
First pick on “limited government” Republicans who step out of line, and gradually work your way to the Democrats. Why pick on the “worst offenders” last? Because they aren’t the worst offenders. Duh! People who pretend to be your friends and stab you in the back are, by far, the worst offenders.
Political extremes define the middle, so if you want to redefine where the middle is, you must make the extreme more extreme. As Patton purportedly put it, “I’d rather have a division of Germans in front of me, than a French one behind me.”
Local examples of organizations that pulled this off for a while was Accountability Utah and Utah Gun Owners Alliance. Nationally, Gun Owners of America managed it for a while. Most groups , like USSC and NRA, end up pandering and selling out. It requires tremendous work, commitment, focus, and unwillingness to deviate in the slightest.
Thanks for addressing this topic and having some class about it. Thanks also for a great website. I use it everyday!
P.S.
Join The NRA!
Or for the crowd reading this I should say renew your NRA membership… as the case may be. You may not agree with all the NRA says and does but it is our biggest tool in our bag of tools for fighting for our cause.
If you like listening to pod casts check out “The Gun Dudes” a bunch of UPS employees here in Utah that are funny and fairly entertaining as they discuss guns. Also check out “Gun Fighter Cast” and Ken Blanchard the Urban Shooter AKA “The Black Man with a Gun.”
Absolutely fantastic, spot on article. I tip my hat to whoever wrote it.
Just briefly regarding training…
I cannot say enough good about Front Sight Firearms Training Institute. I took my first class last year and immediately bought lifetime memberships for my entire family. This past weekend I took their 4-day handgun course with my wife while our kids took their kids achievement camp (ropes, martial arts, handguns, archery, safety…and shooting full auto UZIs with assistance). My wife absolutely loved it. The very next day she was checking their schedule and ours to see when we could go again. Understand – my wife did not grow up with guns and had only shot a handgun twice in her life before this past weekend.
As for me, I will be back next month for a 2-day tactical shotgun and 2-day rifle (AR15) course.
Consider that Front Sight trains more people each year than any other school in the country. That alone tells me they must be doing something right. There are some good schools here in Utah, but you will spend more in just four days with them than you will for a lifetime membership to Front Sight – a membership that allows you to take ALL of their courses as often as you want. Think about that for just a moment. Even if you only went a SINGLE time you would still spend less than you would at most schools here in Utah, but the reality is that you could (and should) go again and again for their handgun, rifle, sniper, shotgun courses, etc.
I am not saying anything bad about the schools here (though, as the article says, some are better than others). I’m simply speaking to the very high quality of the training you received at Front Sight, coupled with value that nobody else can even come close to matching.
If you’d like to discuss your options for taking one or more courses at Front Sight, you’re welcome to contact me at jgrant03@gmail.com or 801 839 9255. I’m happy to answer all of your questions without any pressure at all.
No matter what you do, be sure to stay educated, get trained and maintain it.
Sorry Nick. I didn’t mean to shut down discussion on this. ??? I’ve never been the last commenter on a post before.