I think @
Tentman's point still stands, and it is that how an argument is framed is important. As firearms users, where our own assertions may make sense to us, they may not make sense to someone who lacks technical knowledge of the subject. In the same vein, we may find media articles featuring negative themes around firearms, much less alarming than someone with lack of contextual knowledge of the subject.
This is where it is important to shape advocacy to the audience, which here, is not the rest of us, but the wider public, who probably aren't prepared to do the intellectual heavy lifting needed to understand the deeper complexities of the landscape. I know I am not prepared or just don't have the time to do the same on many other things.
Granted, supporting statements with data is also crucial, but for best results, both of these approaches in tandem. Framing it the wrong way will just make valid assertions appear self serving or disconnected, which makes them easy to dismiss.