Liberal Advice Columnist Tackles Gun Ownership

…and it doesn’t end up how one might expect.

One of my weird little guilt pleasures is reading Dear Prudence. She’s young and very liberal who not only lives, but also works in that bubble. Needless to say, I figured I knew which way she would come down on the side of a wife who doesn’t want to buy a gun with her husband who does want one for self-protection in the home.

I have to admit though, I thoroughly agree with her advice. First, she makes clear that the wife does not have to commit to using a firearm if she’s not comfortable doing it. That is absolutely true. Not everyone is going to be comfortable using a firearm or any type of lethal force. Self defense is a personal decision, and just like we should have the right to decide to have access to a firearm to defend our lives and families, others have the right to choose an alternative (or no alternative if they are true pacifists).

After that, though, “Prudie” points out that if her husband is equally determined to own a firearm as the wife is to not using one, there’s still an argument to be made she should know enough about to have a reasonable discussion on safety precautions when it’s around her in the house. Again, that’s perfectly reasonable. I’ve made the case plenty of times that even when one household member isn’t too keen on gun ownership, just having a basic knowledge on how to safely handle it and unload it if needed can go a very long way in easing their comfort with the existence of one at home.

It didn’t come down to politics at all – just a reasonable argument that the couple will need to solve it for themselves and that both have the rights to their views. Could it be that we’re winning more of the culture fight than we might sometimes realize?

If you want a question related to guns that involves a little more drama, there’s this one from July where a girl raised living off the land hunting and fishing in a poor household is involved with a rich girl trying to go vegan and they are getting serious enough to consider kids – except they can’t agree on food. While Prudie says it’s a relationship worth trying to save since this is the only major disagreement, she also kind of quietly acknowledges that there’s a good chance something this major won’t end well for trying to raise children together.

10 thoughts on “Liberal Advice Columnist Tackles Gun Ownership”

  1. So let me get this straight; a couple of sodomites think that they can properly raise children but can’t possibly see the root of why they might be having problems. And you simply posted this as though it’s fucking normal or something? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.

    God is going to wreck this country, period.

    But yeah, every adult in the house should know how to safely handle and operate the firearms present. That, IS normal.

    1. Maybe some of us honestly don’t care what other people do, or don’t, with each other’s genitalia. It’s a free country, don’cha know.

      1. “It’s a free country, don’cha know.”

        When I was a young kid, lo, 60 years and more ago, we would frequently shout that line at each other in the course of our childish disputes.

        I haven’t heard a kid say that for a long time.

        Just an observation.

        1. I remember this phrase being used a lot when I was a kid, too, about 30 years ago, and have also noticed that it doesn’t seem to be used as much anymore too.

          It disturbs me that this line seems to have disappeared from our discourse.

    2. “God is going to wreck this country, period.”

      Read the papers. He already did. Last November.

      Thanks for helping Him!

      1. I don’t know about anyone else, but this was my theme song for the last presidential election:

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwf7tHBvuhY

        Trump was far from my ideal candidate, but he was the biggest wrench I could find to throw into the system. Considering how much the system has screwed me personally my only regret is I could not find a bigger one. As far as I am concerned the only way to fix this is to burn it down and start over.

        1. “he was the biggest wrench I could find to throw into the system.”

          I can relate to the feeling, but you only should want to throw a wrench into a machine you can walk away from. Throwing a wrench into your own life-support system, or into a machine that might kill you when it blows up, is not a good strategy for seeking “change.”

          Several people at the time told me they “wanted change.” I advised them to set fire to their houses, because it was guaranteed that would bring change into their lives.

      2. Ah, so you supported Hillary, eh. Because if you supported someone else other than her or him, you would believe the God wrecked the country sometime prior to November.

        1. “Ah, so you supported Hillary, eh.”

          I supported no one. I opposed Trumpakov.

  2. If you found encouragement in someone generally liberal taking a reasonable view of gun ownership, I suspect you have slipped into taking a too-rigid view of the opinion divide.

    On the “liberal” side, I have long observed that candidates who build their campaigns almost solely on gun control, don’t prosper. In primaries they’ll usually lose to Democrats (typically) who focus on other issues, and play down gun control. In general elections, they will usually lose – badly – to moderate Republicans, even in “liberal” suburban districts.

    On the other side, there are the alleged polls that show “even NRA members support sensible gun control.” We can dispute the validity of those polls, but I believe they contain a kernel of truth. The demonstrated popularity of NRA Director Ted Nugent with the membership suggests that while many voting NRA members want perfect and total gun freedom for themselves, they harbor some fuzzy notion that we also need legislation that will keep guns out of the hands of Those People, including “mongrels” and “beanochimps,” to quote Nugent.

    So, don’t be surprised when an alignment comes out that diverges from the respective camp’s laundry list or stereotype. Don’t be overly encouraged, either.

Comments are closed.