“If anyone thinks it’s easy to get your point across using the limited characters on Twitter..”
I have been involved in many discussions with anti-firearms advocates over the last few years. For the most part, they start out with a statement about how “common sense” gun laws are needed. So I usually ask, “Name one law that has ever stopped a criminal who is intent on committing a crime from doing so?” Most of the time that gets them all riled up, and the conversation on their side devolves into insults and name calling.
I still try to talk some sense into those that will at least listen. Now and then you get that one that just flat out surprises you! This happened to me the other day on Twitter. If anyone thinks it’s easy to get your point across using the limited characters on Twitter, you have not used it in that way, or are not very verbose like me. But I still try, and it is refreshing when I find that one fairly open mind that will listen and then has an “ah-ha” moment.
While reading the anti-firearms posts to see who I could engage in a conversation, I encountered a “tweet” from a person using the name “Kitty Sparkle Pants” (I did not make that up!) who posted this message, “kitty sparkle pants, May 7, #NotOneMore bracelet arrived: donate to ttp://notonemore.com for common sense gun laws and get yours. @Everytown”
She was talking about donating money to Everytown for Gun Safety for a bracelet that says “Not one more” on it.
I saw this as a chance to educate and engage. I replied to her post with one of my insights, “If you want ‘not one more’ you would teach people to defend themselves, not seek out ‘safe spaces.’” My statement must have caught her attention, because we began a fairly long back and forth discussion with her bringing up the typical talking points, and my using logic. But then things took a turn I was not expecting.
The vast majority of the time I eventually get cursed at, blocked, or become the recipient of some other childish behavior. So needless to say, when I got the following response to a comment, I was a little shocked, as I think was Kitty Sparkle Pants:
https://twitter.com/downrangewithcw/status/861666119597346816
You can imagine I was shocked when she said she agreed with me, and then I think she realized what she said, hence the “(I agree with you here… I think….yikes)”
Needless to say, we went on a bit more, but after that I started to get more positive feedback from her as she finally realized that I was not going to argue with her but only respond with facts and logic.
So I learned that you could sometimes get the uninformed to see the light, even if it is just a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
