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Warren's Point (courtesy cindywilsonphotography.com)

I remember the exact moment I lost a college friend. We were standing on the bluffs overlooking Warren’s Point, watching waves crash onto the rocks on a picture perfect day. As I struggled to keep my cigar lit, he asked me a simple question: “Are you carrying?” “I always carry,” I replied. He stared out at to sea. “It makes me nervous,” he announced.

desantis-blue-logo-no-back-4-small“What makes you nervous?” I asked, fearing the answer. “Your gun,” he said. “What about it?” I pressed. “That you have one.” “Why wouldn’t I?” I remarked. “We just have different views,” he said. It was the first time he’d ever refused to discuss something with me. It was the last time we discussed anything.

It pains me that anti-gunners make the “debate” over gun rights personal. While I never fail to stand up for firearms freedom, I’m a live-and-let live kinda guy. I don’t believe that differing opinions on gun rights should prevent civilized discourse and friendship between individuals. And yet it does.

Have you ever lost a friend — or potential friend — because of gun ownership or gun rights?

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136 COMMENTS

    • Nailed it.

      I don’t make friends with hoplophobes. I will be polite with them unless they start ranting. but that’s it.

    • Somehow I knew we would have the same answer to this question haha. I dont make a habit of befriending “useful idiots”.

    • Likewise. Anybody that, not just irrational but ANTIrational, really has nothing to offer me in the way of human interaction.

      My father taught me to pick my friends carefully.

    • I am happy to discuss the facts around the 2nd amendment, gun ownership, and CCW with anyone who will listen. The moment they shut down and refuse to look at the facts, to at least learn about that freedom they hate so much, then any hope for friendship is lost.

      Yes, I have lost friends over my strong belief in the Bill of Rights. Today, I wonder if they were ever my friend. It is probably better that we parted ways, though. We are on the precipice of some very dark, horrible days. I am sure that those people I thought were friends will either leach off of me for protection, attempt to take my guns for themselves, or forsake me for an oppressor who will give false promises of safety.

    • Yeah – I do have a couple friends who might be a little surprised that I carry most of the time, but I generally don’t hang out with people that are dumb enough to be shocked or “fearful” of it.

  1. Friend, no. Family, yes. I have a family member that refuses to talk to me after she called me (and my wife) potential murderers for simply owning a firearm. I returned the favor and then some. Haven’t talked since. No skin off my ass.

    Side note RF. Check your title.

    • You should send them some large (4″ high letters minimum) signs stating:

      “GUN FREE HOME”

      If they refuse to post the signs on their residence, they are hypocrites for letting their gun-owning neighbors shoulder the load of defending the neighborhood through the average criminal’s fear of armed resistance.

      • I debated her as rationally as I could muster for a while and got her cornered into admitting she wanted all guns confiscated and anyone that didn’t turn them in should be imprisoned. I asked her what the difference between someone who illegally takes a life (murderer) and someone who illegally imprisons millions of people to rot in prison for life because they own an object she didn’t like? Things got a little more animated after that. The sign might get sent certified mail. 😀

        • the sign is not the only thing certifiable, if you know what I mean. Best of luck tho, I have a few certified relatives myself and life goes on.

  2. Whew, I thought you said you lost a “friend”, nope.

    If you love something, set it free,
    if it comes back and does not absolutely loving firearms . . .

    cut that sh_t loose and leave it in your wake.

  3. A friend, no. Acquaintances, yes. True friends tend to share most core beliefs. If I did, they were not a friend to begin with.

    • ^^^ This. Friends can disagree but still be friends. I had someone I considered a friend go on a total SJW rant on FB about how evil guns were and calling anyone who owned a gun any and every name in the book. I couldn’t help but politely (and it truly was politely) point out the logical and factual errors errors in their rant (because that’s what friends do). That only earned me a hate filled rant telling me what a terrible person I was and how I was a someone who only spewed hate online and wanted children and gays to die. I was pretty amused by the rant since if you saw my FB page, you would see that even though I have deep political differences with the President and his political party, I have never posted anything that could even remotely be considered derogatory and gun related posts were of my wife, daughter and I at the range, with the bulk of the rest of it being pictures of our family’s travels or holidays. Their parting shot in “unfriending” me was to tell me that they never wanted to speak to me again and hope they never had to see me again. My reply was “meh, whatever, it’s your loss, if this is the real you, I’m better off without your crazy”

    • This. Quite a few FB friends have I friended me over guns and politics. Most are the SJW types that just rehash talking points. I find that, for me, it has been nearly 100% liberal leaning folks. Though actual science confirms liberals tend to dump friends more than conservative folks.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/10/21/liberals-are-more-likely-to-unfriend-you-over-politics-online-and-off/

      So much for the liberal idea of “inclusion”…

      • “So much for the liberal idea of “inclusion”…”

        And ‘tolerance’ of others ideas.

        And those are the same people who have those ‘Coexist’ bumper stickers plastered everywhere…

        • sometime ago “bdub” posted:
          “the progressive mind celebrates diversity through exclusion.”

  4. Yes, of course I make friends with people of differing views. They are not all “tyrants” or “stooges.” Many are misinformed, almost all are inexperienced. There’s no evangelism without friendship.

    I’m not sure I’ve ever lost a friend over guns, but I’m fairly certain I lost a job.

    • You nailed it. If I learn that a friend doesn’t like guns, my response is to take them shooting. If they go shooting (or even if they don’t) and still don’t like guns, we can still be friendly –although we’re probably not destined to be best friends.

      This is America, and different opinions are allowed. You don’t have to like guns or approve of gun ownership. Just don’t tell me that I CAN’T own a gun. That’s where I draw the line.

      • “This is America, and different opinions are allowed.”

        Newsflash: many Progressives will vehemently and sometimes even violently disagree with you.

        • “…many Progressives will vehemently and sometimes even violently disagree with you.”

          And that is one of the main 3 reasons why I carry.

    • I landed a job partly due to guns. Got to informal chatting at the end of the interview and one thing lead to another, I took out my CCW permit and slid it across the table, saying something to the effect of saving them the cost of a background check. Been carrying on the job ever since. I figured I was safe when I noticed the pheasant mount on the conference room wall.

      Best perk of the job is free use of the corporate rifle range! I hope I never have to go back to stuffy Corporate America again.

    • I agree, there’s no evangelism without friendship.

      The hearts and minds of hoplophobes will not be changed by people they already detest. But sometimes such minds can be changed, or at least opened, by people they already respect.

      Too many of our fellow citizens are being duped by a news media empire that they perceive as neutral and unbiased. We need to open the door to the rest of the story, and those doors won’t be opened by people they don’t trust.

  5. I’ve lost more friends over my cigar smoking then my desire to shoot.

    I once had a neighbor who refused to let her child play inside my house with my kid because I owned a firearm, even though I kept it locked up.

    Years later I found out the real reason she didn’t want her child at my house was that I smoke cigars inside my basement office. I had a ventilation system but it wasn’t perfect and it was a little bit of cigar smell.

    I don’t blame her, but I would have preferred the truth.

  6. I don’t think I have. I think it’s so obvious I’m pro gun that people who don’t like guns never try to make friends with me. I’m ok with that. I have howevet lost many friends and family due to politics in general.

  7. My experience has been that many (not all) of the types who are vehemently anti-gun repulse me due to other characteristics as well.

    If I’ve ever lost friends, not to my knowledge. I have one anti-gun classmate that agrees to disagree…

  8. Friends no, but my mother-in-law and father-in-law are big Progressive liberals and think I’m a little nuts because I own a dozen or two guns. But it’s the community I live in here in st.pete Florida there is a lot of liberal progressives coming down from the north and from Puerto Rico it’s like an invasion on Florida. I just don’t discuss politics or Firearms when I’m around my in-laws it’s a simple as that however I do carry just like I normally do everyday. Plus it doesn’t help that they are from Canada and have a strong belief in government especially the liberal kind. I’m with the other fellow and a couple others that had mentioned if they have such a problem with you being a gun owner or concealed weapons permit carrier then they’re not really your friends if they can’t see by the way you live your life is liberty and freedom to make up your decisions and your choices to raise your self and your family in your direction not the government’s we are citizens not subjects that’s what I always remind them.

  9. Nope. I’ve lost “friends”over JESUS and politics. Never guns. I have a few new friends who love guns AND JESUS. Relatives are another matter?

  10. My wife has several friends in academia. Two sets found out I have a carry license. One set asked and has come shooting with me a few times, the other set I don’t get invited to their house any more.

    • I know just a bit about Academe, having emerged from the closet decades ago as a law abiding shooter ( military reserves and civilian) and NRA member. I was called a “fascist” only once, even tho I am emphatically not. Once. a very progressive professor hollered at me.I of course kept my calm. Long story short:those who claim to be “inclusive” and for diversity, are not. If you march to their tune you are accepted,but if you dare dissent, you’ll be the Painted Bird. Open society anyone? Diversity of thought? Inclusivity of heretics and dissenters? Why is it that I’ve found bird hunters and pro- hunting conservationists more tolerant than academicians, especially in the humanities?
      Anyone? Anyone?

  11. “We just have different view”

    Me: So he stopped talking to you because of guns?

    Rob: The next day he died of lung cancer. From all the cigars we used to smoke, so yes.

  12. Friend, well no, my mother married an anti-gun prius driving, liberal democrat, drew the line when he tried to tell me i shouldnt have guns with a toddler in the house, so what did i do? Purchased her a keystone cricket in her favorite color, PINK! And ill tell you what, at 3 years old she understands gun safety better than a few grown ass men i know.

  13. Newtown was a major turning point. While it caused many Americans, myself included, to burn bridges with an acquaintance, it also brought a huge wave of closet fudds and “I support the 2nd, but…” types out of the woodwork to be properly made fun of. It was the first time in my short life that I recognized the depth of today’s nationwide cultural split. Many an astonished fudd in my neck of the woods were absolutely dumbfounded that we all weren’t ready and willing to throw our AR-15’s into furnaces if the state demanded it.

  14. I think the whole problem boils down to people that have never been around firearms it scares the living hell out of them. If they have enough character to actually try something new most of them find it enjoyable to shoot a firearm safely. To those who won’t even consider going shooting in trying something new or won’t even consider inviting me over because they know I carry a firearm I don’t have anything to say to them I could care less that’s their American Freedom choice to hate firearms and people who own them but on the same note don’t tell me how to live my life or what should be legal for me to own last time I checked this was a free country for now until Hillary gets in office.

    • “last time I checked this was a free country”

      um, not so much… If a right can be infringed or restricted, it isn’t a right. We lost our rights when the most important one was infringed in 1934. Maybe this was a free country before then, but since then we became subjects who can be prosecuted by a revenue agency and jailed for owning a piece of metal an inch too long, or a piece of wood an inch too short.

      Welcome to Amerifascistan where freedom is a shrinking illusion.

  15. Not the ending I was expecting. I thought you pushed him off the cliff to free his soul of the fear of guns to a fear of the sudden stop at the bottom of the cliff. Remember kids, it’s not the fall that kills you, it’s the stop at the bottom.

  16. We took into our home a family that had been displaced by Katrina. The first night, I let the father know that we had guns in our house. They left the next morning. Beggars and choosers and all that.

  17. No.
    I can see a potential issue with family arising however. In-law recently had a child and I can already see symptoms of them flipping full-on retard about faux safety nonsense.
    If they do it will likely affect the wife because she likes them and the kid. I’d rather embrace any excuse that prevents them from visiting. Time will tell how it all shakes out.

  18. People in this country no matter which side of this you stand on don’t seem to realize that America has constitutional freedoms that enable each citizen certain rights one of those rights is to keep and bear arms that shall not be infringed. You Don’t See us standing on corners condemning people for choosing religious Behavior or freedom of speech I really think this country is divided and is that way because President Obama wants us that way he wants Democrats hating Republicans and vice versa it’s all in the scheme of things so that he can put his personal agenda Hillary Clinton is just part two of his b*******. After 8 years of a Democrat now we get another 4 possibly 8 of this one it’s absolutely disgusting it’s supposed to be a fair choice between whichever candidate you would like to see elected instead you have a multi media campaign against the Republican Party you even have these assholes Republicans that aren’t backing Donald Trump they should lose their jobs because of that it’s a damn heartbreak to see this country fall to tyranny the way it is.

    • Get over it, Trump is not making it easy. He is going to help the Democrats as much as Hillary and Obama helped gun sales. I know at least two people who are finally getting their first gun because of how much of an ass Trump is.

    • Trump self-destructed. The only thing surprising is that he held it together, more or less, to, through, and after the convention. Everyone expected him to derail way back in late 2015 or at least before Iowa. True, the media held back their best ammo until October, and he crumbled under the assault, but it was inevitable. He was never going to win this election.

      When Hillary lies her way through the oath of office, you’re going to thank the Never Trumper office holders who distanced themselves from that lunatic and held on to their seats in the House and Senate. That’ll be the only redoubt from which to defend the country.

      • Heard about the newest WikiLeaks?

        Hillary took 12 million from Morocco for a meeting.

        Pay-to-play, in black and white, with Huma admitting to it.

        The major media is trying to ignore it.

        “Hillary Clinton solicited a $12 million donation from a government that her State Department considered corrupt, then realized the “mess” it would cause in her presidential run, a newly leaked ­email reveals.

        King Mohammed VI of Morocco agreed to give the money to the Clinton Foundation, provided that it held a convention in his country in May 2015 with Clinton as the keynote speaker.”

        http://nypost.com/2016/10/21/huma-on-hillarys-12m-morocco-fiasco-she-created-this-mess-and-she-knows-it/

        Pay. For. Play…

  19. I have friends on the local PD and here’s a story for you she went to drop off her six-year-old at school she’s a sergeant with the st. Petersburg Police Department in uniform in a patrol car dropping off her young son and it was a little past the Bell so she walked him to his homeroom class to let the teacher know that she was running a little late this morning and he had missed the bus when the teacher came unglued that she came on school property with a firearm. She even had the principal come down to her room and politely asked the uniformed police officer not to come back on campus grounds with her firearm ever again. So being that she was very polite she called Herr Lieutenant let him know what just happened at the school and basically this took over two months of going back and forth between the police chief and the school board before they acknowledge the fact that police officers that are on or off duty have the right to carry a firearm on school property and that by asking her not to carry a firearm onto their property was absolutely ridiculous. They simply put it if you all call for police help you get officers with firearms there is no difference between an officer dropping off their child at school on their way to work then if they are there in an emergency capacity end of story. But just this story alone goes to tell you how friggin retarded the left is.

    • If that’s the law, then that’s the law and the school needs to get over it. However, if that’s the law, then that shouldn’t be the law.

      I’m so sick of special carve-outs for the ruling elite and agents of the State. She’s on the clock when she gets to the station, not during her morning commute. They shouldn’t be allowed to take their cruisers home, either, and use them as private vehicles for personal errands.

      If it were up to me, I’d subject her to the same laws as everyone else. When she’s not serving in an official capacity, stay off school premises while carrying. Of course, if it were up to me, there’d be no carry ban in the first place, but I think you get my point here.

      • Are you also angry at firemen because they occasionally get to drive big red trucks really fast and take axes to other peoples’ houses? Does the fact that doctors can write their own prescriptions offend you? Are you upset that attorneys can read Latin and use it against you because you don’t? Does the fact that modern, trained auto mechanics can diagnose the problem with your car’s computer and make it run, when you can’t do much more than put gas in the tank, cause you distress? Does thinking about airline pilots depress you, because all you can do is run about while making spluttering noises with your lips as you wave your arms up and down, while they get to fly big jet airplanes?
        Well, gosh! Here’s ;your opportunity! Go to school for years and become a doctor or attorney! Apply for your city’s fire department, pass the entrance exam, complete the rigorous training, and then go out and put out other peoples’ fires! Take some correspondence courses or a few years’ worth of OJT during an internship, and become a car mechanic! Study for hundreds of hours, and take hundreds of hours of flight training, and become a pilot!
        Or, maybe you could man up, grow a pair, study hard and become a cop, put on a uniform and a gun, and go out every day to fight other peoples’ battles for them. Gee, you could even get shot at. Or shot. Or shot dead. Or, you could be fortunate and retire with just a few broken bones and a bad back.
        No, not you. You’d rather pontificate about how awful them statist jack-booted black-suited government-thug racist cops be, and how they get special privileges that you don’t even though you’re just as special to you because your wife and kids like you, while you stand watching and commenting from the sidelines in relative safety, because YOU don’t volunteer to directly seek out and confront rude people with guns, you’d rather count upon the extreme randomness of a personal attack occurring, which isn’t likely to happen to you at all. Because you’re looking out for you and yours, not for some random strangers. You’re not going to stick YOUR neck out, no SIR!
        “Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men and women with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? They have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself and them to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I and they provide, and then questions the manner in which I and they provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.”
        Too much? Or, not enough?

        • You must be a copsucker or the relative of one…
          I have no problem with police who treat the public with respect and do their jobs in a non-abusive manner.. However, the “us vs. them” mentality, viewing the citizenry as the “enemy” is a big problem in today’s “law enforcement” community.
          In fact, American law enforcement has adopted Israeli tactics in dealing with the public–not good. As Israeli is on a constant war footing, its tactics are different, being based on military tactics, not suitable for the United States.
          I guess that as American citizens “we are all Palestinians now”…
          Here are changes that can help reduce police-induced violence:
          1. Get rid of police unions. Police unions (fraternities) protect the guilty, and are responsible for the massive whitewashing of questionable police behavior that is presently being committed.
          2. Eliminate both “absolute” and “qualified” immunity for all public officials. This includes, prosecutors and judges, police and firefighters, code enforcement and child protective services officials, and others who deal with the citizenry. The threat of being sued personally would encourage them to behave themselves. Require police officers to be “bonded” by an insurance company, with their own funds. No bond=no job.
          3. Any public funds disbursed to citizens as a result of police misconduct should come out of police pension funds–NOT from the taxpayers.
          4. Regular drug-testing of police officers as well as incident-based drug testing should take place whenever an officer is involved in a violent situation with a citizen–no exceptions.
          5. Testing for steroid use should be a part of the drug testing program. You know damn well, many police officers “bulk up” with the “help” of steroids. Steroids also affect users mentally as well, making them more aggressive. The potential for abuse of citizens increases greatly with steroid use.
          6. Internal affairs should only be used for disagreements between individual officers–NOT for investigations involving citizen abuse. State-level investigations should be mandatory for all suspected abuses involving citizens.
          7. Prosecutors should be charged with malfeasance IF any evidence implicating police officer misconduct is not presented to the grand jury.
          8. A national or state-by-state database of abusive individuals who should NEVER be allowed to perform police work should be established–a “blacklist” of abusive (former) police officers.
          9. Most people are unaware that police have special “rules” that prohibit them from being questioned for 48 hours. This allows them to “get their stories straight” and makes it easier to “cover up” bad police behavior. Police must be subject to the same laws as civilians.
          10. All police should be required to wear bodycams and utilize dashcams that cannot be turned off. Any police officers who causes a dash or body cam to be turned off should be summarily fired–no excuses. Today’s body and dash cams are reliable enough to withstand harsh treatment. Body and dashcam footage should be uploaded to a public channel “on the cloud” for public perusal.
          11. All interrogations must be video and audio recorded. Police should be prohibited from lying or fabricating stories in order to get suspects to confess. False confessions ARE a problem in many departments. Unknown to most people, police can lie with impunity while civilians can be charged with lying to police…fair? I think not…
          12. Any legislation passed that restricts the rights of ordinary citizens, such as firearms magazine capacity limits, types of weapons allowed, or restrictive concealed-carry laws should apply equally to police. No special exemptions to be given to police. Laws must be equally applied.
          A little “Andy Taylor” could go a long way in allaying fears that citizens have of police.
          That being said, I have no problem with police officers who do their job in a fair, conscientious manner…however, it is time to call to task those police officers who only “protect and serve” themselves.

      • I agree with Jonathan -Houston 100%. There are far too many “carve outs” for those who are “privileged” to be in certain professions-police, firefighters, etc. These carve-outs include much lesser punishments for transgressions and criminal activity that would get an average citizen much greater, severe punishment. You see, the “rules” that apply to us mere mundane citizens do not apply to our “public servants”. If I had my way, punishment for transgressions by public servants would be DOUBLE that for ordinary citizens.
        Look at how many times, police who are engaged in questionable shootings (actually murder) “get a pass” from police-friendly prosecutors and directed (illegally influenced) grand juries.
        The whole concept of “immunity” granted to public officials needs to be abolished. Require all police and firefighters to purchase a “bond” from an insurance company. You can bet that insurance companies would not put up with bad “public servants”. As it stands now, a “bad” public servant can go to another town, get hired and repeat the abusive behavior all over again. The taxpayers always pay for misbehavior by public servants.
        Police work is not inherently dangerous. There are many other occupations that are more hazardous…
        That being said, “gun-free” zones should be abolished…

    • Move out here to Pasco. It’s not quite as stupid as Pinellas. I bite the bullet and commute to Feather Sound everyday and it’s worth it.

  20. It wasn”t the gun so much, although that was just one more wedge. We went camping in a remote part of eastern Oregon. I brought my hunting rifle. One half of the group knew, the other half didnt. I had no clue anyone in the group would object, but one friends girlfriend flipped the hell out. She was obnoxious anyway and he followed her like a whipped puppy. So he took her side, and they decided to attack me over it. I held my ground and my other two friends jumped in to tell them they were stupid. That was the last time I ever saw them. Three of us broke ties with those two immediately afterwards. Of course their relationshi didn’t work out.

    • Wow, that’s funny. My wife was initially somewhat indifferent about me being armed. The the first camping trip we made, about the time it got dark and the coyotes started making noise and I mentioned a story about bears, she asked very seriously, “did you bring your gun?” and was quite relieved that I had.

      • I had a similar experience in the high Rockies some years back. As Jefferson stated, firearms give peace of mind. Especially when it gets pitch dark and there is nothing but beasts and crazies around with no law enforcement closer than a 1 hour drive and a stout hike.

  21. “It pains me that anti-gunners make the “debate” over gun rights personal.”

    It can’t NOT be personal.

    You see infringements on the 2A as a threat to your PERSONAL safety, and rightly so.

    They see guns as threats to their PERSONAL safety, because of their ignorance.

    The only solution is to address the ignorance.

  22. Every major shooting, I lose contact an acquaintance or two. Which is fine, as I get older I prefer having a smaller circle.

  23. Lost a girlfriend over it. We were going to move in together, but she told that she had a couple of conditions. Never made it past the first one which was I needed to get rid of my firearms. Told her that was out of the question. And that was the last time we talked.

  24. Fear is a real factor regarding guns. Some fear is “psychotic”, meaning the person can never conquer it because it is immune to reasoning, deflection, substitution, or any other technique. That type fear will not be mitigated by education, instruction, or a quick trip to the range. If your friend was fixated on pancakes, you could never get them into iHop, and they would be nervous about you every time you suggested having breakfast together (especially if your friend just simply “loves” Waffle House).

    There is not point in attempting to cross the sort of fear bridge your friend protects, covets and is unhinged by.

  25. What I have never understood is the emotion people attach to an inantimate piece of metal and plastic.I would rather be around a loaded gun than a can of gasoline, a a spray can of roach killer, a live electrical circuit, nuclear waste, etc. My Math Prof. told us she would just rather not know we are carrying. I asked why. She said if someone is being aggressive, she wouldn’t want to know they have a gun. Okay. I said CCW people pass a background check, which means they are clean, plus if there is an active shooter(this is how the conversation started) the classroom is protected. Gave her something to think about. I think the class knows I probably carry now.

  26. My kids and I had to unfriend my sister in law from Facebook because of her extreme anti gun views and her SJW rants. Even my wife had to mute her. The supposedly anti gun violence sister in law who told me in no uncertain terms that she was fine with the government killing thousands of Americans to enforce gun bans. I will have nothing to do with anyone who advocates government sponsored mass murder or democide.

    • The supposedly anti gun violence sister in law who told me in no uncertain terms that she was fine with the government killing thousands of Americans to enforce gun bans.

      You should turn it around and ask her if it’s ok with her if the gun owning public has a civil war and simply kills thousands of liberal progressives.

      • Those kind will pretend saying that is a threat, file for a restraining order and report you to CPS. Safest to keep those folks a very lengthy distance.

  27. Unlike a woman, your AK will never cheat on you, steal from you, make you look stupid in front of others, or turn your kids against you.

    An AK is quiet until you want it to be loud, is not maintenance intensive, and actually looks better with age.

  28. I can only think of one friend who doesn’t own a gun, is uninterested in guns and has politely stated that he doesn’t see the need for a gun, yet acknowledged that gun ownership is legal and so because of that he has no problem with others owning guns. He also said he does not see guns as any more dangerous than any other device people own. He’s never challenged me on my ownership of guns or tried to sell me on police protection and child safety. Fair enough. He’s not so much anti-gun as gun-indifferent.

    It would be hard to truly be friends with a vocal member of the SJW anti crowd. And not just because of their attitude towards guns either. Typically the sum of that entire personality type is unappealing in the first place. If you are vocally anti-gun, I can probably assume we will not get along well, for that and a variety of other reasons.

  29. Two cousins of mine grew up in North Dakota and hunted with their dad (my uncle). One cousin moved to the East Coast, married a Jewish Princess with a hundred million dollar inheritance, and now his kids aren’t even allowed to own Nerf guns.

    The newly-liberal cousin and his Jewish Princess wife invited his brother and wife out to a nice restaurant, whereby the Jewish Princess laid into the man’s brother and wife for owning guns, then topped it off by calling them sexists and racists.

    Needless to say, I don’t visit that cousin anymore.

    • She’s a Jap you anti-Semite. Why does it matter that she’s Jewish? Would it be better or more ok if she was rich liberal white women?

        • Right, growing up in a predominately Jewish region I heard the term “WASP” used regularly, often with negative connotations. Funny how that works.

        • Louis CK talked about Jew(s) being a socially accepted word for a group of people, while at the same time being a slur. All depends on whether or not you put some “stank” on it.

          I’ve never understood why people get bent out of shape when you use non-offensive race or ethnic terms to describe someone in a story. All of us do it. We don’t get upset when we hear someone talking about some red-headed guy. Besides, either way they’re just words; it’s our intent behind using words that matters.

          All my Jewish pals don’t exactly look like they came out of the desert either. Most of them look pretty snow-white, they just happen to be Jewish. Just like I look (and am) pretty snow-white, and happen to be raised Methodist.

        • If I said white trash, you’d have an image in your mind. If I said ghetto thug, you’d have an image in your mind. This woman embodies the stereotype of JAP to the nth degree, right on down to complaining about being overworked as a housewife despite the nanny, maid, and cook.

          But she got her Liberal Arts degree from Brown, so a woman who has never held a gun is eminently qualified to tell somebody who uses them what to do with them.

        • Certain aspects of Judaism are much other cultural / belief systems. Many Jews regard their “Jewishness” as being a superficial, non-religious aspect of their humanity, a part of their culture, while others regard Judaism as being an integral part of their lives, guiding all behavior and aspects of their lives, much in the same way that Moslems regard Islam to be all-encompassing, guiding every aspect of their lives.
          However, in Judaism, there is a subset of Jews who recoil in horror, especially if any “Goyim” (gentiles) call them out as being Jewish. Among this type, you can call them scoundrels, thieves, etc. and it will “roll off their backs” However, call this subset of Jews a “Jew” and they take offense. Why?
          I welcome my Jewish friends to provide a further explanation for this behavior.
          I hold no ill will toward adherents of any belief system. I treat others as I would want to be treated…

  30. Yes and No.

    It’s not like we had an argument and we were no longer friends anymore. It is more like – They were a bleeding liberal whine-bag, and I simply didn’t call them back, so – it was more of a falling out. I’m a really tolerant guy, but I do have one intolerance. I have trouble tolerating people who can’t tolerate my freedom.

  31. I have “lost” acquaintances over various of my points of view, including on guns. Never a friend.

    That seems to work out well, for me.

  32. Not real friends. Maybe FB friends if that counts.

    I was hiking and camping by myself in Colorado a decade ago and had a nice conversation with a female anti gunner that was also hiking alone. Her argument against guns was that armed citizens had no chance against a foreign invasion because they would just take out the power grid and not put boots on the ground. I said well that’s not an invasion and why do free people need a reason to own a gun? We actually became friends though we never agreed on that topic.

  33. Nope, my best friends in life have all been dogs, humans? Cant seem to get along with the two legger types, so i dont bother.

  34. My first team chief from the army.

    After the army facebook posts being what they are, he posted one of those “if you want to carry an assault weapon, here’s the recruiter chair” memes.

    I couldn’t help but comment. Nothing nasty, just simple facts like millions in circulation, nobody statisticaly EVER killed with them… only violence worth mentioning in places where guns already banned, that type of stuff.

    Long drawn out argument later and I ‘wanted dead kids’ and an ‘unfriend’ button was hit at some point.

  35. Nope, never lost a friend over views on firearms. I have friends spanning all across the political and philosophical spectrum. Interestingly, I did have a conservative “pro-gun” friend who was the only one who was nervous that I was carrying (Yes, you guessed it, he is a Fudd). My more liberal friends have all displayed a respect and comfort with at least *my* carrying even if they prefer more rigid background checks and/or prefer more modern weapons be banned. I prefer to hang with folks who have more ideas vs beliefs. “I think it’s better to have ideas.” –Rufus

    Obamacare …but that is another story.

  36. Him: “If I ever see you out I’m going to take your gun from you.”

    Me: “If you try that it might end in tragedy. I think for your own safety we should not be friends anymore.”

    It’s been five years.

  37. Yes I have, mostly my own brother over his wifes disdain for guns.
    She has known I have carried a gun every day everywhere and I mean everywhere. Except their house.
    I dont go to their house.

  38. A good high school friend of mine and I hooked up again on FB a few years ago. She’s from a “Commonwealth country” and had regular commentary on my pro-2A posts. We debated at various points for a good year with her always denigrating back to a Gunsense talking point about how I supported murder. I just shrugged it off, but it was such a 180 from how I remembered her in HS being open-minded about freedom, even if she didn’t agree with somebody. I mean, heck, she wants to live in that craphole NYC, be anti-gun, not get married to her male paramour until gays can get married (and be a college professor at a liberal institution, to boot), that’s her prerogative. I could care less. Why should she care if I carry a gun everywhere.

    But then she really blew a gasket on me one day, when I compared gun ownership to abortion, going so far as to childishly demand that I “take back my post and delete it, or else!” “Or else what?”, I asked, knowing full well it would be some rage-quit threat. “Or else I’ll unfriend you!” “Well, do what you have to do, but that post isn’t coming down.” And she did. Haven’t spoken to her since.

  39. A friend of mine is married to a once-anti-gun woman. She was so anti-gun that she would not allow one in their home. It turns out that this woman was very religious, and conducted Bible studies and other church activities.
    After rationally discussing the situation with her, she revised her position 180 degrees. I quoted the Bible, in which Jesus commanded his followers: “those who do not possess a sword (the means to defend ones self,) should sell a robe, and buy one”. This, along with promoting the sanctity of human life, the importance of self-defense in defense of self and family, and how ones’ life is so precious, the responsibility to defend innocent life at all costs (against criminals, and those who would harm another while committing criminal acts).
    She not only did an about-face on the gun issue, has multiple weapons, has a CPL (concealed pistol license), along with her husband–she is a better shot than him.
    The religious angle can be used to good effect. I have been able to convince a half-dozen anti-gunners of the “errors of their ways”…

    • Armed Lutheran Radio, is a down loadable radio show about Christians and gun ownership. It may help those believers who don’t like people with guns.

  40. A libtard niece , her libtard husband , and their 2 nondisciplined children came to visit .
    I carry a jackass rigged 1911 from wakeup to sleep time . Concealed in public and open in the house .
    15 minutes into the visit she asked me to disarm and lock it away because it made her uncomfortable .
    I offered a better solution ;
    “You just get the hell out of my house and don’t come back !”

  41. Wow, I can see the Sakonnet Lighthouse in the distance. This is where I use to walk my American Staffordshire terrier, Snooker and carry my Colt detective special. She didn’t mind.

  42. I’m losing a sister and father over guns. My sister has had a friend for more than a decade, yet the Cthulu like rise from the depths of the HRC campaign, and her bs stance on the 2A has seen a change for the worse within my sister, She has actually taken advantage of this friend, and yet has the audacity to state, “I’m worried about the arsenal he has, he could do ANYTHING with it, and I worry for my kid when we are around him and his family”.

    Yet when he pays for expensive meals, or loans out his vacation home to my sister and her husband, she magically loses all fear of this persons so-called ARSENAL.

    The old man, has increased his anti-gun rhetoric within the same HRC timeframe, he champions “common sense” infringements as necessary regulations of the 2A; yet this man owns several firearms. A textbook FUDD.

    I love them both, because we share the same blood, but I credit the rise of HRC and her uncompromising evil for waking me up from the progressive slumber I fell in. Once I have moved, I don’t plan to extend my hand to my sister or father much beyond the yearly Christmas card, or phone call. I want only to live among people who have burned the words of the Constitution onto their souls and believe in each one.

    I can no longer listen to the self-righteousness of two clearly unseeing people, who have made themselves as they are. I dislike hypocrisy in the extreme, and we look set for 4 more years of it. I will move to another state that cares more for the rights of the people, than banning thought, restricting action, and infringing rights.

    • Sounds more like your sister is his side piece looking to be his primary.
      Or that guy is a complete moron with a dumb wife who puts up with some other woman in her business.
      If your dad doesn’t like guns make him an offer for his.

  43. No, because my friends know I’m a peaceful and responsible person. And I even converted some who didn’t like guns in the beginning. But if I was like those featured on IGOTD, then I would totally understand losing friends.

    • This. Concealed means concealed.

      Was at a board meeting for a club when the hostess started bitching about campus carry in Texas. (We’re in Colorado.) “Anyone could be carrying now!” I asked what had changed since yesterday, when anyone could be carrying, albeit illegally? She hesitated, then turned to another board member – a police officer. “You know what I mean, right?”

      *facepalm*. As an off duty officer, he was strapped. As was I. But because she couldn’t SEE them, she was not afraid of them.

  44. I’m pretty much a keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer sort of person. That said, there are limits and there are those who are simply hazardous to either or both your health and sanity. Those are the ones you have to cut loose from.

    I’m willing to educate on Facebook or elsewhere online as much as reasonably possible, as it’s not reasonable to expect everyone else to be an ordnance engineer or even stayed at Holiday Inn the previous night. But when that ignorance becomes willful denial and obtuseness, then even I have to pull the plug, and that had to happen a few times after Sandy Hook. I expect it will happen again in a few more weeks as well, following the elections. Sad, but such is life among the intolerant these days.

    Tom

  45. I’ve lost two friends both male and White (you will understand in a minute why I mention it), one a trust fund baby (daddy worked on Wall Street & was a good guy), he’s not only an angry drunk but never held a full-time job in his life for more than two weeks while trying to be an “actor” and now somehow got a job teaching “theater” in the county school (what happened to “shop” ie. plumbing/electrical/carpentry/drafting etc?). Funny thing is his wife is an “actor” too or so she claims and a public school teacher who has appeared in some teacher’s union political ads in my state supporting Democrats that were broadcast on TV. I’m waiting for one featuring her hubby so I can upload to his union’s Facebook page and release to the media the photos I have of him pissing on a Black homeless drug addict sleeping on a mattress on a Dead End street. I think I’ll call it “Teacher’s Union Get Out The Vote Project” or maybe “Rise ‘Shine’ It’s Time to Vote”.

    The other I’ll just say is an a**hole, statistics show he will get his at the hands of those he champions, you can only roll the dice so many times before “Snake-Eyes” comes up.

    “F”- ’em both, I use FB just to keep in touch with a few friends and family (under 50 total) and share political news (we’re ALL on the same “page” ie. pro-2nd Amendment & Conservative)

  46. What happened to my original post?

    The easy way to handle that conversation on the bluff would’ve been to start pushing him toward the edge while saying “Don’t you wish YOU had a handgun AND were carrying IT right now?”.

    Better yet you could have said “I could just as easily kill you by pushing you off this cliff and I don’t even have to pass a “Background Check” to do it.

  47. Can’t think of any really. Even some liberal Facebook acquaintances never seem to be bothered by my few pro-2a posts. Maybe it’s because they know I don’t give a rat’s ass what they think.

  48. I think that many anti gun people need firearm education before an across the board dislike is decided, but that’s just me

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