I ducked out of work early, just after lunch, so I could pick up my dad and hit the road. I packed the ice chest, the tent, my sleeping bag, my camo gear, and my rifle before setting out on the road to my parents house.

It was early enough that my younger brother was still home, so we took some time to catch up. Originally, he was going to be my partner on the weekend hunting trip, but a last-minute change of his mind meant my dad would be coming instead.

That's fine. I enjoy camping with my dad and looked forward to showing him what wild turkeys looked like in person.

We all got to chatting, then I slipped and bumped up against the railing on the stairs. My brother heard the sound my holster made hitting the bannister and froze.

"That better be empty."

"Don't worry, I know better. I left it in the car."

A couple of years ago, my brother had a loaded handgun pointed at him at a party. Since then, he's utterly despised handguns and takes a very passionate stance towards those who own and/or carry handguns. I know his position, and while I disagree with him, I respect his home and leave my gun in the car when I come to visit.

About a year ago, though, a family friend came and stayed for a few days. He was carrying every day, despite the house rules against handguns, and made a big deal out of it when challenged later.

My stance: your house, your rules. If you don't like guns and ask me not to carry, I'll respectfully leave mine outside.

That said, you can also expect me to ask you to (at least verbally) defend your stance. I'm equally as passionate about gun rights as you are, and would honestly like to know your view. We might agree, we might disagree, but I'd like to get all of our arguments out in the air so we know where everyone stands.

I'll also call you on your BS if you make something up to defend your position.

Misinformation

While I disagree with and will argue against the anti-gun crowd, I fully respect their opinion and will hope that everyone involved will have an open, honest, transparent discussion based on facts. When I see or hear statements rooted in fiction and devised solely to disperse fear and misinformation, I will absolutely call you on it immediately.

https://twitter.com/Jennifer4130/status/533298881455738881

The AR-15 is a semi-automatic rifle originally manufactured by ArmaLite. The "AR" in the weapon's name is an abbreviation of the original manufacturer's name. Today, it's manufactured by Colt with a few changes in design, but remains mostly the same weapon. The fully-automatic military version can fire up to 800 rounds per minute, the "15" in the name is simply the model number and meant to identify the gun as the successor to the AR-10.

Anyone making an argument in favor of heavier regulation of AR-15 style weapons should do their homework and understand that "AR" doesn't mean "Assault Rifle" and that an arbitrary measure of "15 bullets per minute" is meaningless. That's a round fired every 4 seconds - a rate of fire that can be matched and surpassed even by many bolt-action rifles.

https://twitter.com/Jennifer4130/status/533777670723878913

The AK-47 was invented in 1947 by Mikhail Kalashnikov and was called by the Russians, "Автомат Калашникова." That's "Kalashnikov Rifle" in English. A standard rifle accepts a detachable magazine with a 30-round capacity,[ref]Yes, you can buy a drum mag to push the capacity up to 100 rounds, but your ability to fire more than just a few rounds per bullet pull is still questionable.[/ref] which is far under the "47 bullets per pull of the trigger" claim above.

Sowing Fear

I have no issue with people who hate guns. I have no issue with people who harbor an inherent fear of gun owners.[ref]Though I'd encourage anyone to reach out to me to begin a conversation. I'm not a terrible person. I don't carry on a daily basis. I really do want to get to know you so you don't have to be afraid of me.[/ref]

I do, however, take significant issue with anyone who makes up lies to sow fear amongst the community. You claim gun owners are the ones making the world a frightening place, but really it's terror-mongers like you who are at fault.

Love guns or hate them, leave your bullshit at the door; then we can have a rational discussion and, perhaps, actually find some sort of middle ground.