A well known, oft cited, euphemism is that “perception determines reality.” The logic of this statement is undeniable because, though it is often debated, each person's perceptions and experiences are the basis of how they react to the world and what they believe to be true. While one person's perception will not determine another person's reality, it does not make either person's reality less true. In the gun control debate, it has been the dichotomy of perceptions of guns and gun ownership that has put advocates on both sides at such extreme odds. As with most things in life, the positive or negative associations that we have with guns growing up determine how we are going to react to those stimuli in the future and in our adulthood. The problem with using solely our perceptions to determine our realities is the fact that it creates skewed realities that are often based completely on fear and not on fact.
One of the biggest perceptions about guns that exists in the anti-gun lobby is that all guns are bad or evil and that everyone who has or carries a gun, with the exception of police, is a bad person who is intent on committing a crime, threatening someone, or is probably up to no good. Most often, this perception of guns is stemmed from either a lack of experience with guns, a negative experience with guns, an influx of negative views of guns and gun violence from the media, or all of the above. It is human nature to fear or have a negative opinion of things that we are unfamiliar with, especially when those things can cause legitimate harm or death. It is understandable if someone does not like guns because they have had a negative experience with them, but it often seems that anti-gun lobbyists focus solely on the negative aspects of firearms and give no credit to the positive aspects or the fact that the number of law abiding gun owners far outweighs the number of illegal gun owners. Millions of gun owners enjoy various shooting sports that range from hunting to target shooting to competition shooting, and have completely safe and responsible experiences with firearms without ever having a negative experience.
While many do not believe it, shooting sports actually develop a range of skills that can be useful in a number of everyday activities and are something that many people find to be enjoyable. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) “was chartered in 1961 to promote a better understanding of and a greater participation in hunting and the shooting sports” and has sought to proliferate shooting sports and to promote firearms safety for fifty years (“NSSF's History”, 2011). It is organizations such as the NSSF, the Boyscouts of America, and 4-H that help to foster young adults into productive members of society, and all three organizations believe that “...the skills and disciplines of shooting to assist young people and their leaders in attaining knowledge and developing essential life skills” (“Shooting Sports”, 2011). All of these groups and the vast majority of shooting sports events focus so much on firearms safety and proper firearms handling that shooting sports are actually one, if not the safest, of sports that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels, even those with physical disabilities (Soldivera, 2004).
Since our perceptions determine our realities, why not begin to alter the negative perceptions of guns by giving more people positive interactions with firearms? The skills that are imparted when learning the fundamentals of shooting and while participating in shooting sports are meaningful skills including focus, concentration, self discipline, hand-eye coordination, decision making, safety, and responsibility. Perhaps if more people had access to structured shooting events and were taught the basic fundamentals of firearm safety and ownership from a young age there would be less firearms related violence and more responsible gun ownership. It is possible that by simply altering our perceptions of firearms and by promoting safe and responsible gun ownership and firearms related experiences we can alter the reality of gun violence.
Resources:
“NSSF's History” (2011). National Shooting Sports Foundation, retrieved from <http://www.nssf.org/industry/historyNSSF.cfm>.
“Shooting sports” (2011). University of California 4-H Youth Development Program. Retrieved from <http://www.ca4h.org/Projects/SET/ShootingSports/>.
Soldivera, R.A. (2004). “Name this sport” National 4-H Shooting Sports. Retrieved from <http://www.4-hshootingsports.org/Name_this_sport.php>.
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