Afraid of guns?

My google alerts pop up the most awesome things some times, like this letter to the editor of a local paper somewhere in “The South”.  It’s so funny that I’m going to copy/paste/fisk the whole thing.

I moved here about four months ago from Long Island, N.Y. As my mom and I drove around Hendersonville, we quickly noticed that very near to East Henderson High School is a gun shop.

Uh…so what?  Would you be opposed if a chainsaw store was near a highschool?  Oh wait…you’re from New York.  Say no more, as your cultural hoplophobia is well documented.  I do enjoy how your second paragraph begins with the statement “I moved here from New York”, the unspoken part of that being “and that makes me better than you southern hilljacks”.

At first we were shocked, and then we realized it isn’t too big of a deal down here in the South. However, I feel that having a gun store so closely located to the high school sends out a bad message.

How does that send a bad message?  That’s not even logical.  What does having a gun shop next to a high school say that becomes a “bad message”?

Not only is it showing a typical stereotype of the South, but it sends out a message of violence to teenage kids. It makes it appear as though guns are easily accessible along with making it appear to the teenagers that violence can be the answer to their problems.

That is the stupidest thing I have ever read.*  A gun shop doesn’t send a message of violence any more than having a cutlery shop sends a “message of stabbing”.  A gun shop (which is a pretty ambiguous term, actually) only sends a message of violence if your personal bias causes you to believe that guns are inherently violent.  Of course, if you believe that, you’re an idiot.

I understand that it’s unreasonable to have the gun store go out of business, but I feel it would be appropriate for them to relocate.

Why should they have to move because you can’t get over your prejudices about inanimate objects?  That’s unreasonable.

The author is right when he says that guns are common in South.  But where he loses his credibility is when he assumes that the commonality of guns is somehow a negative stereotype, or a bad thing.  I guess it’s just New York hoplophobia.

9 Comments

  1. It may be a stereotype of the south, but it happens to be one of the many that make me wish I lived there instead of in the nanny state of Mass. . . . Someday. . .

  2. Since hoplophobia seems to be predominately concentrated in certain locations, I wonder if I could get a multi-million dollar government grant to study thes areas and see if it’s something in the water.

  3. A gun shop doesn’t send a message of violence any more than having a cutlery shop sends a “message of stabbing”.

    That made me laugh so hard. I couldn’t help but think of the Simpson’s episode where Homer buys a gun from Blood, Bath and Beyond.

  4. Sorry to do the double post thing, but I had to after reading the entire letter. The author appears to be a high school senior. My lord. Is that how we’re teaching kids to write these days? It’s not the worst by any stretch, but for someone reaching so far to get published that he’s writing about an issue in “another newspaper responding to another letter regarding a ban on guns,” I would expect much more out of him.

    If the kid is aiming to be a journalist, he’s got to work on the writing. To his credit, he’s got the irrational and blatant bias requirement down perfectly.

  5. English teachers provide absolutely no motivation to write well. If a student becomes proficient in writing, it is mostly due to their own innate talents.

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