Comments on: On Bigotry

By: More on Gun Control as a Cultural Issue | Snowflakes in Hell

More on Gun Control as a Cultural Issue | Snowflakes in Hell — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:56:19 +0000

[...] Nothing at all you see. Both Joe and I have insisted that it does. Then you have stories like this in the comments: In many ways the bigotry in Chicago is malevolent. Many gun owners I have met keep silent in fear. [...]

By: hypnagogue

hypnagogue — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:34:10 +0000

Okay, fine: I have anti-gun folks meddling in my personal life, trying to ostracize me from society, and trying to intimidate me into silence. And worse…

When your Boss drops an unsubtle hint that the “gun crazies” will be the next in the layoff, you get the message. When he actually lays off all of the gun owners (that he knows of), it is a bit more than intimidation. Yes, this happened where I work, and he brags about it. It’s not dangerous to brag about it — discrimination based on gun ownership is not illegal.

By: Melancton Smith

Melancton Smith — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:56:26 +0000

In many ways the bigotry in Chicago is malevolent. Many gun owners I have met keep silent in fear. Not simply fear of arrest, but fear of being stigmatized, ostracized, fired from their jobs.

And their fears are not unfounded. Attempts have been made to get people fired for airing their views. CAGE (Chicago gun enforcement team) has used Chicago’s registration scheme to confiscate otherwise legal firearms in the past.

By: SayUncle » Bigotry

SayUncle » Bigotry — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:08:51 +0000

[...] That said, yes, anti-gun people have an odd sort of bigotry and that’s been playing out on the blogosphere. And Joe shows us quite a few examples of such bigotry. And Sebastian weighs in on the bigotry meme too. [...]

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:07:52 +0000

Let us not forget that the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents were all about enforcement of Federal gun-control laws. Around the same time the L.A. Times advocated a felony-crime total ban on AW possession; 30 days grace to surrender them all without compensation.

The zealots of the anti-gun movement are perfectly happy to employ the violence of the state against us. They are bigots through and through.

By: Sebastian

Sebastian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:52:19 +0000

That’s true, but true for anyone who advocates using government, even if a group proposed to, say, balance the budget by raising taxes.

By: LC Scotty

LC Scotty — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:25:29 +0000

Sebastian,

That’s fair enough-each of us should only be accountable for our own words. The fact remains that these individuals would have no compunction about using violence to bend you to their will by forcing the machinery of the state to ease their discomfort.

By: Don Gwinn

Don Gwinn — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:58:00 +0000

I’m not being funny . . . I’m just pointing at something.

Something that is funny.

By: Sebastian

Sebastian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:16:37 +0000

That’s a fair point, and perhaps I didn’t word that sentence as carefully as I should have.

By: Laughingdog

Laughingdog — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:02:40 +0000

“In a free society, we’re all entitled to an opinion, but no one is entitled to look down on someone else because they think, look, or act differently. That’s the very definition of bigot.”

You got the first part right. But you’re way off on the rest there. I’m entitled to look down on someone for any damn reason I’d like. I’m not entitled to act to restrict their rights just because I don’t like their opinion. But I’m well within my rights to look down on them.

By your logic, if someone spouts off that they think all racial minorities should be kept locked up, or turned into slaves, I’m a bigot if I look down on that person and think that person is roughly equivalent to pond scum.