Thread: Media Firearms beat-up continues

Indeed Rushy it will come around in the media again, so the thing is to be ready for it.

One thing I have learned is many ppl have an opinion that is not based on data, experimentation, maths, science etc but they just know they are right. The anti-gunners are not an exception (in fact amongst the worst), its purely emotional. So when ever I enter such a discussion of areas that interest me (peak oil, climate change, economics, oh and yes, guns) I try to ensure I have my facts right and know what their arguments are likely to be and have counters to them and provide evidence. So an example when they say NZ's gun laws are too lax and we should be like OZ, I point out that NZ has less homicides per 100,000 than OZ and that stat been declining faster than OZ. Same applies when they say our gun laws should match OZ, my answer is so you want more deaths? When they say the better OZ laws in 1996 dropped the suicide rate by gun, yes it did, but it was dropping anyway and the faster drop it caused lasted 3 years then reverted to the same trend as pre-1996. Did overall suicide rates decline? didnt make a difference ppl just top themselves by other means. Why are our stats better than OZ? probably because the police have a better relationship with the community where there can be problems though I am still trying to get info on that. ie a law change wouldnt have any success.

The last thing we want is nutjobs posting in public saying "you cant take my guns". "you cant make it harder for me to get gun stuff, I am a legit owner" etc. Fess up to our / any weaknesses and fix them, it makes us look good IMHO. While it wont make the emotional insecure feel any better the more rational joe bloggs voter on the street will hopefully look at both sides and decide who looks the bigger wanker, and in our favour. The recent guncity fiasco was a case in point IMHO, I think we could have been way more positive and constructive.

Now I am pretty sure some journalist will try to do something similar again, possibly via TM.