by Alan Korwin was one of the panelists in the GRPC discussion on the Success and Future of Concealed Carry. Alan is the author and publisher of a number of books on firearms laws in the various states. Alan is a bit of a showman but he uses it effectively to get his message across.
He performed a very effective demonstration on the words we use. He had everyone attending the conference to stand up and then asked who believed in gun rights. He got a big cheer. Doing the old routine “I can’t hear you” a couple of times, he got louder and louder cheers. Then he had everyone sit down. Alan then said if we keep calling it gun rights instead of civil rights, the anti’s will be able to continually attempt to marginalize us.
However, if we say we are pro-rights, then by definition it makes our opponents anti-rights. It changes the perception in people’s mind of who we are and what we do. Alan is correct. A person’s perception is their reality.
Alan has published a free “politically corrected” glossary on his website. You can read it online or download it as a PDF. It is well worth studying so that the next time you engage in a discussion of your rights with friends or co-workers, you will have more powerful words with which to make your argument.