Do you consider gun ownership an ideology/political stance?

[zoid 24]

The 2nd Amendment is so controversial especially as of late that
I view it as more than just the act of owning a firearm. I view it
as a political stance and/or an ideology. I don't think you
can merely state that you own guns and that is the end of it. I 
feel if you own guns then it implies you believe in other ideas and
specific stances on self defense, the governments role in society,
etc. If you are against gun ownership/the 2nd Amendment then likewise
I feel it also implies you will have a specific political stance and a set
of ideologies. I would say the only person who would maybe be 
neutral is the one that does not own a firearm just out of not being
interested and really doesn't care if others do or do not. 

What is your stance on the subject? Is it just owning a gun? Or
do you think it is much more than that?

 

[wooly bugger 1]

I'd add that it depends on the cultural context.

In NJ, gun ownership defines you as a member of the enemy class. Even if you start off non-idealogically, being unjustly branded a pariah will tend to make you idealogical. Just like the ongoing legislative travesty has woken up and radicalized many apathetic gun owners. 

 

OTOH, if you own a gun in a place like TX, it's no more idealogical than owning a car.

[222 3]

There are many, including gun owners, that don't differentiate between right and privilege.

Just because someone owns a gun doesn't make them ideological of philosophical.

[zoid 24]

I'd add that it depends on the cultural context.

In NJ, gun ownership defines you as a member of the enemy class. Even if you start off non-idealogically, being unjustly branded a pariah will tend to make you idealogical. Just like the ongoing legislative travesty has woken up and radicalized many apathetic gun owners. 

 

OTOH, if you own a gun in a place like TX, it's no more idealogical than owning a car.

 

Very good point.  I guess because being against gun ownership/2nd Amendment is a clear cut political/ideological view I assumed

the opposite would be as well.  Someone anti gun in Texas... now that would be weird, but I'm sure it exists.  it's almost like the opposite

of a pro gun guy in NJ.

 

There are many, including gun owners, that don't differentiate between right and privilege.

Just because someone owns a gun doesn't make them ideological of philosophical.

 

Oh to clarify I didn't mean if you own a gun you are "ideological or philosophical".  Just 

that you hold a certain stance.  Of course the degree to which those beliefs are held 

would vary from one individual to another.  But I didn't mean you buy a Glock and you

become Socrates, haha.

[mcbethr 42]

There are still plenty of places in the world where being anti-gun means being pro-hunger.

 

I was never a big fan of Sarah Palin, but I she did one remarkable thing - when the Alaska National Guard returned from Iraq, she extended moose hunting season by 3 weeks.  Why?  Because a good portion of the soldiers returning from Iraq were Inuit and if they didn't get a moose, their family didn't have meat all winter.

[maintenanceguy 510]

It wasn't a statement of ideology until very recently.  I didn't realize how hated I was for owning guns until very recently and felt no real reason to push back.

[when_shtf 4]

I don't consider upholding the US Constitution a political stance and/or an ideology, so by default I don't believe gun rights are.

 

There are people that have made the US Constitution itself a political stance and/or an ideology. Of course, I consider those people traitors to our form of government and to the American people.

[SgtToadette 59]

Is the mere act of owning a gun a political or ideological act? I say no, but it is the basis for a political view on a particular issue.

 

That said, being a gun owner and believing in gun rights does not require me to believe other ideologies about the place of government or certain social issues. It is independent.

[ReadDude 0]

Websters defines Politics (among numerous definitions)

 

3.a.) political affairs or business; especially : competition between competing interest groups or individuals for power and leadership (as in a government)

 

5.a.)  the total complex of relations between people living in society

 

I own and enjoy guns, and my family home-schooled for 17 years. In both cases, my decision to become involved in the activity was not political, but once immersed in exercising that decision, the social and political ramifications are clear. It political because you make a decision that has social, economic and legal consequences and will definitely not be liked by some/many of your fellow citizens.

 

In other words, you may not desire it be political, but that decision is not your own it is society's.

 

If you live in NJ, it is an act of political defiance, in TX it is an act of joining with the majority. In both cases it is political.