OSD 43: Cultural imprinting is how we spread gun rights
Two quick admin things this week, and then we'll get you on to a bevy of good links.
First, we're going to be at SHOT Show from January 21–24. You can see our bios on our About page, and we'd love to meet you at the show. Just reply to this email to set up a time, or to express a general-but-unscheduled interest in attempting to meet somewhere on the show floor 😉.
And even if you're not going to be there, let us know who we should make sure to talk to while we're there! We'll make it happen.
Second, take our survey. It's quick and is going to help us decide where to double down. We've got a statistically all-over-the-place audience, but one common thread is that you're unusually smart. Your survey responses are going to be great.
This week's links
Ads Don't Work That Way
From the always-readable Kevin Simler, an essay about how you get large groups of people to come around to your view:
"Cultural imprinting is the mechanism whereby an ad, rather than trying to change our minds individually, instead changes the landscape of cultural meanings — which in turn changes how we are perceived by others when we use a product. Whether you drink Corona or Heineken or Budweiser 'says' something about you. But you aren't in control of that message; it just sits there, out in the world, having been imprinted on the broader culture by an ad campaign. It's then up to you to decide whether you want to align yourself with it. Do you want to be seen as a 'chill' person? Then bring Corona to a party. Or maybe 'chill' doesn't work for you, based on your individual social niche — and if so, your winning (EV-maximizing) move is to look for some other beer. But that's ok, because a successful ad campaign doesn't need to work on everybody. It just needs to work on net — by turning 'Product X' into a more winning option, for a broader demographic, than it was before the campaign."
"I, a very liberal man, now owns a 9mm pistol"
This /r/guns poster is why we do this.
Speaking of which, this tweet from a public defender in Philadelphia
"I’m a liberal progressive. I think I believe in gun control. Yet ever since I’ve been working as a public defender (I’ll concede that it’s only been two-plus months), I’ve developed a more complicated view on guns. It’s weird. Maybe, one day, I’ll be able to articulate this view."
This is what it looks like as someone's just starting to see the matrix. Props to Waqar for being open about his uneasiness.
2018 Ohio concealed carry statistics
The data is pretty raw, but there's some interesting stuff in here including the fact that while new licenses issued declined 10% from 2017 to 2018, license renewals increased by 83%.
BJ Campbell interview about his piece "The Surprisingly Solid Mathematical Case of the Tin Foil Hat Gun Prepper"
Good stuff from BJ.
Statistics tweet #1
Someone on Twitter points out that the annual chance of a given child dying in a school shooting is the same as the chance of you dying from driving 15 miles in a car.
Statistics tweet #2
A thread from us about rising support for gun rights among young people, and why the nature of gun control makes it so that coaching people into being afraid is an unavoidable strategy for gun control proponents.
Lead poisoning from shooting
Garand Thumb on lead protection as the next frontier in PPE at the range.
First live-fire test of a 3D-printed Glock full auto switch
Information wants to be free.
Cleveland rapper pays CCW fees for 20 women
Fees exist to stop poor people from exercising their rights. Props to Ripp Flamez. As the top commenter said, this would be a great idea for a nonprofit org.
Virginia National Guard responds to Gov. Ralph Northam's comments on Second Amendment sanctuaries
The statement from Virginia National Guard leadership is remarkably (but maybe unsurprisingly) deferential to the sanctuary movement. And it is a movement — 76 of 95 counties, 9 of 38 independent cities, and 13 towns have adopted sanctuary resolutions. Just over a week ago, West Milford, NJ caught the bug too.
Firearm statistics from the NSSF
Key findings:
There are 423 million firearms in civilian hands in the US.
Just shy of 18 million of them are semi-auto rifles with detachable magazines, and those rifles made up more than half (54%) of all rifles produced in 2017.
An estimated 8.1 billion rounds of ammo were produced in 2018 for the US market.
The M1 Garand: The Greatest Rifle of All Time
Manny Mansfield is back.
When your mother-in-law operates
Yup.