Thread: Kiwi Gun Blog

As a mouthpiece for responsible gun owners, I feel it stumbles whenever it strays into lazy right-wing attitudes. Just now I'm reading an article where it calls NZ schools "socialist indoctrination centres". I understand the frustration with anti-gun activists, and it feels good to slag off those who disagree with you, but I think calling them "cuck" is also heading down the wrong kind of rabbit hole.

We live in a world that has grown more and more tolerant of people different from ourselves, and in New Zealand we are often at the front of the queue when it comes to social progress. We should not be encouraging the anti-gun crowd to stereotype gun owners as regressive bigots.

A lot of the anti-gun attitude is formed out of ignorance. Ignorance leads to fear. What we should be doing (and what a lot of us are doing) is offering, in a non-confrontational way, to share our knowledge and educate people, to defeat that ignorance and abate the fears. By appearing combative and intolerant, we as gun owners close ourselves off to the outside world, and they remain ignorant and afraid.

That said, I appreciate the research and investigation that goes into writing the articles, and find that it is a useful source of information. I just wish it would take a more academic approach to presenting it.

@Solo Perhaps he would appreciate that idea as feedback on his blog? Just a thought.

Originally Posted by Solo

That said, I appreciate the research and investigation that goes into writing the articles, and find that it is a useful source of information. I just wish it would take a more academic approach to presenting it.

I agree. A critical mind should be able to filter out the emotive aspects and view the content in an objective fashion. "Academic" these days is increasingly losing its relevance unless it is a science related discipline (less bullshit factor). University used to be a place that only the intellectually gifted could really aspire to.

These days (with notable exception) it is increasingly the bastion of mediocre degrees which can be obtained by masses of mediocre students, funded by interest free loans. At the end of the day, students are awarded a meaningless degree and contest for a diminishing number of positions that their degree warrants plus are in financial servitude for the bulk of their early adult lives.

So yeah "academic" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as it once did. Particularly as academics such as Professor Clements who is a well-known anti-firearms advocate. Does he have any professional qualification in firearms instruction or law enforcement? Is he a firearms enthusiast or a regular hunter, sports shooter?

No - he's a former Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies.

That's about as soft and fluffy as winning the Nobel Peace Prize. People who win Nobel prizes in literature, physics etc are ... embedded in their subject matter. They know it because they live and breathe it.

Wanting to reduce a perceived and unsubstantiated increase in gun crime in this country by advocating further restrictions through legislation, on licensed firearm owners is preposterous. It might seem like a nice idea but it's just that, an idea - just because someone writes into the letter of law doesn't make it workable.

It's like wishing for breaking into a house to be illegal... Oh wait, isn't that law? How many upstanding citizens are caught breaking into houses?

What we need is less government, not more. What we need is for Police to enforce existing laws and to focus on crimes that really matter. Not waste tax payers money (our money, "our" includes police who are tax payers) conjuring up bullshit laws behind closed doors that are only going to incite resentment among the community they are supposedly their to protect.

Is this really a democracy? Where the law makers and law enforcers conspire behind closed doors and refuse civilian participation? Great way to "win friends and influence people".

Originally Posted by Solo

As a mouthpiece for responsible gun owners, I feel it stumbles whenever it strays into lazy right-wing attitudes. Just now I'm reading an article where it calls NZ schools "socialist indoctrination centres". I understand the frustration with anti-gun activists, and it feels good to slag off those who disagree with you, but I think calling them "cuck" is also heading down the wrong kind of rabbit hole.

We live in a world that has grown more and more tolerant of people different from ourselves, and in New Zealand we are often at the front of the queue when it comes to social progress. We should not be encouraging the anti-gun crowd to stereotype gun owners as regressive bigots.

A lot of the anti-gun attitude is formed out of ignorance. Ignorance leads to fear. What we should be doing (and what a lot of us are doing) is offering, in a non-confrontational way, to share our knowledge and educate people, to defeat that ignorance and abate the fears. By appearing combative and intolerant, we as gun owners close ourselves off to the outside world, and they remain ignorant and afraid.

That said, I appreciate the research and investigation that goes into writing the articles, and find that it is a useful source of information. I just wish it would take a more academic approach to presenting it.

I reckon the language used is born out of pure frustration with people that view shooters with utter contempt.