Bear Arms

I remember having similar Anti-Gun replies at a dinner table with relatives. Over the past few years - I've collected a counter replies. I ask the older ones at the table - "where were you during the summers of 1967 & 1968. Where were you during the riots?" Most people have forgotten. I ask each of them to Google-search "1967 Riots" and "1968 Riots" Each search will provide lots of details of race riots all over the country - but esp in Newark and Plainfield - if you want to keep it local in NJ. Long story - short - the police were swamped to the point that the State & National Guards were called in w early versions of SWAT teams and Riot Gear - even tanks. I remember those times because I was a Peace-nik student at Rutgers in New Brunswick and felt that those places were not of interest to me because they were not in my neighborhood. Well - they were only 20 miles away and I was too stupid to understand that they could have been around the block from me and I would have come up with another stupid excuse to avoid understanding that I also could have been a victim. Later I met people from Newark & Plainfield who described their cities before and after the riots and they all said it was not pretty bad - horrible. The looting in retail areas was legendary and the riots and fires consumed many residential areas. Most of the people that were directly in those towns left and never returned to live there. Not a scientific survey - but a great majority of them - explained to me that that time was the first time they started looking at self defense more seriously and those people have become very serious about protecting their homes, family and property - using guns. Nobody said that the police were negligent in their work but all agreed that the police were simply overwhelmed. If the 911 system were in place then (it wasn't) it would have had a few % of calls w proper responses and 90+% w NO response. Which do you want to be? I've chosen to be more self-reliant and self-preserving, esp when I was raising a family. So where is this going? I ask the same people - In what form do you need information presented - to take it seriously? Do you need to be hit over the head before you defend yourself or do you look around and see what your situation is really like? Ask yourself - do you lock the doors in your house when you go to sleep? Why? Because you heard there are bad guys out there looking for easy targets. Well - If your locked door gets kicked in - what are you planning to do w the bad guys? Somewhere along the line - everyone will admit that life is too fragile and too easily broken if you don't take care of yourself. Remember - NO one is born loving guns. As we grow up - we acquire a tolerance for guns if we bother to learn that a gun doesn't kill anyone if it's handled properly. Ask your family if that bit of education is too bothersome. Anyway - I've used this angle and now I have 100% compliance in my near and extended family. It took years - but many now say - that they now wonder why they were so Anti-Gun before. I have to leave now but I'll leave you with this lesson - Someone wise (maybe Confucius) once said -> Tell Me and I'll Forget, Show Me and I'll Remember, Involve Me and I'll Understand So here w Guns - you need to quit talking those standard lines and come up w individual stories for each of your family members that hit home. Ask your Mom or GrandMom if she would want to see her kids beat up or worse by outsiders / gangs -- roaming the streets of your quiet neighborhood. Tell her - that Bad guys leave neighborhoods alone that are protected w guns. A S&W decal or NRA decal in a window is better that a couple dogs barking in the backyard. Let me know how it goes.

Just joined NJGF to learn about the special topics unique to NJ Gun ownership. Having lived in other states - but being a Jersey guy - I know NJ living requires a certain attitude to be successful. I hope to learn here and contribute to the Jersey Gun owner / Forum community in some ways. I look forward to hearing about local events and best local places to buy stuff or best gunsmiths or happy people and thoroughly avoid best gun lawyers and careless people. Also plan to support NRA mission vs narrow minded, domestic commies. Thanks for the invite - to the NJGF !