Talking Guns in Polite Society

Over at American Thinker today is this short piece by Rosslyn Smith entitled "The Changing Face of Gun Ownership." Ms. Smith purports to show that the demographics of people who own guns is changing. Suddenly the more respectable people now own guns too.

Hmmmm.

I think what is happening is not so much that folks are now all of a sudden buying guns as that people now feel more free to talk about guns and shooting. There are, of course, some, like the isolated family mentioned, that never before considered owning a gun, but now realize it may be useful. But for a huge number of gun owners, talking about their guns was akin to passing gas at the dinner table. It simply wasn't done. Besides, one doesn't want to scare the faint of heart among us. But with the Heller and now McDonald rulings coming down firmly on the side of the Second Amendment, many more people are willing to admit that they own guns. More people are willing to admit that they enjoy using their guns. It has now become a topic of discussion in polite society again.

Of course, I am mindful that Mr. Obama has been the gun salesman of the year for going on two years in a row. But a lot of that has been fueled by sales of semi-automatic rifles to people who already have at least a handgun, and maybe a traditional bolt action rifle as well. These people just want to get an AR pattern rifle while the getting is good.

Recently I was talking to an outspoken liberal at work who mentioned that he too had guns. I would have expected him to espouse the gun control mantra, so it was good to hear that my friend had not totally lost his mind. Now if I can convince him that all our troubles were not caused by just Bush...