4 ms·

They expect their government to fail them.

by jaxb 13y ago

terrble 13y ago
It already has, repeatedly - but that's totally orthogonal. To imply that gun owners are worried about systematic government oppression that would necessitate an uprising is not an accurate portrayal of conventional wisdom, it's a half-assed attempt at interpreting the Constitution and extrapolating gun ownership rationale. But most gun owners in the US (that I know - and I know quite a few) possess them for hunting, collecting, and sport shooting, in that order.
- lotharbot 13y ago
  I know quite a few who own them for self defense / home defense, as well.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
reader5000 13y ago
No, most gun ownership is motivated by sexual signalling. Especially as blue collar niches are ravaged by automization, immigration, and outsourcing, it is increasingly difficult to for blue collar males to establish a sense of manhood. A small minority turn to gun culture as a means of reestablishing that sense.
- terrble 13y ago
  Taking it down a psychological path _maybe_ a bit too far to be useful, but accurate.
- hysterix 13y ago
  Extra ordinary claims require extra ordinary proof. Could you provide at least ONE scientifically accurate source actually proving this obviously biased opinion? Can you provide even one? Or is this just the standard liberal, pulling information out of your own ass to further your own viewpoint style of thought so common with your type and others on ycombinator. Also your own words contradict themselves. You open your statement with, "most gun ownership is motivated by...". And then finish your statement with, "A small minority turn to...". Absolutely fascinating you couldn't even go more than a paragraph without contradicting yourself.
  - anon1385 13y ago
    Firstly, please read the commenting guidelines: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html particularly: Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation. and When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. Secondly, the supposed contradiction you identified is not a contradiction at all, the first quote was talking about most gun owners the second about a minority of the entire population (who, the poster was arguing, makeup the majority of gun owners). Perhaps your reply would have benefited from you taking a few seconds to allow your masculinity to recover before you started hammering the keyboard in anger. Thirdly, 30 seconds on google scholar will find you plenty of articles about the links between masculinity and gun ownership. http://gas.sagepub.com/content/26/2/216.short http://gas.sagepub.com/content/26/2/216.short Stroud, Angela. "Good Guys With Guns Hegemonic Masculinity and Concealed Handguns." Gender & Society 26.2 (2012): 216-238. In most states in the U.S. it is legal to carry a concealed handgun in public, but little is known about why people want to do this. While the existing literature argues that guns symbolize masculinity, most research on the actual use of guns has focused on marginalized men. The issue of concealed handguns is interesting because they must remain concealed and because relatively privileged men are most likely to have a license to carry one. Using in-depth interviews with 20 men, this article explores how they draw on discourses of masculinity to explain their use of concealed handguns. These men claim that they are motivated by a desire to protect their wives and children, to compensate for lost strength as they age, and to defend themselves against people and places they perceive as dangerous, especially those involving racial/ethnic minority men. These findings suggest that part of the appeal of carrying a concealed firearm is that it allows men to identify with hegemonic masculinity through fantasies of violence and self-defense.
    - sarvinc 13y ago
      I didn't read the article you linked to and I'm not trying to contradict anything you've written. There are a few words in the citation that lead me to believe the article is biased or that they ended up with a particularly bad sample; indulge, hegemonic masculinity and fantasy. Also who fantasises about self-defense? I mean violence I get but how do you fantasies about self-defense?

They expect their government to fail them.

by jaxb 13y ago

They expect their government to fail them.

It already has, repeatedly - but that's totally orthogonal. To imply that gun owners are worried about systematic government oppression that would necessitate an uprising is not an accurate portrayal of conventional wisdom, it's a half-assed attempt at interpreting the Constitution and extrapolating gun ownership rationale. But most gun owners in the US (that I know - and I know quite a few) possess them for hunting, collecting, and sport shooting, in that order.

lotharbot 13y ago
I know quite a few who own them for self defense / home defense, as well.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

reader5000 13y ago

No, most gun ownership is motivated by sexual signalling. Especially as blue collar niches are ravaged by automization, immigration, and outsourcing, it is increasingly difficult to for blue collar males to establish a sense of manhood. A small minority turn to gun culture as a means of reestablishing that sense.

terrble 13y ago
Taking it down a psychological path _maybe_ a bit too far to be useful, but accurate.
hysterix 13y ago
Extra ordinary claims require extra ordinary proof. Could you provide at least ONE scientifically accurate source actually proving this obviously biased opinion? Can you provide even one? Or is this just the standard liberal, pulling information out of your own ass to further your own viewpoint style of thought so common with your type and others on ycombinator. Also your own words contradict themselves. You open your statement with, "most gun ownership is motivated by...". And then finish your statement with, "A small minority turn to...". Absolutely fascinating you couldn't even go more than a paragraph without contradicting yourself.
- anon1385 13y ago
  Firstly, please read the commenting guidelines: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html particularly: Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation. and When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. Secondly, the supposed contradiction you identified is not a contradiction at all, the first quote was talking about most gun owners the second about a minority of the entire population (who, the poster was arguing, makeup the majority of gun owners). Perhaps your reply would have benefited from you taking a few seconds to allow your masculinity to recover before you started hammering the keyboard in anger. Thirdly, 30 seconds on google scholar will find you plenty of articles about the links between masculinity and gun ownership. http://gas.sagepub.com/content/26/2/216.short http://gas.sagepub.com/content/26/2/216.short Stroud, Angela. "Good Guys With Guns Hegemonic Masculinity and Concealed Handguns." Gender & Society 26.2 (2012): 216-238. In most states in the U.S. it is legal to carry a concealed handgun in public, but little is known about why people want to do this. While the existing literature argues that guns symbolize masculinity, most research on the actual use of guns has focused on marginalized men. The issue of concealed handguns is interesting because they must remain concealed and because relatively privileged men are most likely to have a license to carry one. Using in-depth interviews with 20 men, this article explores how they draw on discourses of masculinity to explain their use of concealed handguns. These men claim that they are motivated by a desire to protect their wives and children, to compensate for lost strength as they age, and to defend themselves against people and places they perceive as dangerous, especially those involving racial/ethnic minority men. These findings suggest that part of the appeal of carrying a concealed firearm is that it allows men to identify with hegemonic masculinity through fantasies of violence and self-defense.
  - sarvinc 13y ago
    I didn't read the article you linked to and I'm not trying to contradict anything you've written. There are a few words in the citation that lead me to believe the article is biased or that they ended up with a particularly bad sample; indulge, hegemonic masculinity and fantasy. Also who fantasises about self-defense? I mean violence I get but how do you fantasies about self-defense?