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Want to End Gun Violence? Write a Good Bumper Sticker!
Published: Friday 8 February 2013
One of the reasons why the NRA and rabid gun “enthusiasts” are so effective in getting their ideas across is that they’ve perfected the art of writing bumper stickers. They’ve taken extremely complex ideas and reduced them to half-truths and pithy, easy-to-remember slogans.
Why shouldn’t liberals and progressives fight back? Or are we “too pure to sink to the level of communicating effectively with a wider public?”
I think the attitude that liberals and progressives are somehow “above” such forms of expression is not only wrong, but “dead wrong!” Pun intended!
We do ourselves a great disservice by not communicating our ideas as simply and as forcefully as we can. To do so is not necessarily to debase them. It is to sharpen them.
Sadly, I have been unable to find any sites on the Internet that have “bumper stickers for gun control advocates.” They may well be there, but I haven’t found them.
In the spirit of countering the NRA and other organizations, I offer the following as merely one attempt to come up with bumper stickers for those like myself who want tougher gun control laws. Since they merely represent a first attempt, they are a work in progress. This also accounts for the fact that there is a considerable overlap and repetition between the items.
One last thought. If you have to explain it, then it isn’t working.
Baseball Bats and Cars Can Kill, But They’re Not Made for Killing. Guns Are!
We Don’t Abandon Laws Against Murder Because Murderers Don’t
Obey Them! Why Are Gun Laws Any Different?
How Many Mass Drive-by Knifings Have You Heard Of?
Automatic Weapons Kill More People Faster Than All The Baseball Bats, Cars,
And Knives Put Together!
Guns Kill Whether A Good Or A Bad Guy Fires Them.
People Die, Not Guns!
Guns Laws Make It Harder For Outlaws To Get Guns!
Outlawing Gun Laws Helps Outlaws Get Guns Easier!
Get A Gun! Kill Yourself On The First Attempt!
Guns Don’t Give People A Second Chance NOT To Commit Suicide!
Get A Gun. Have An Accident. Kill Your Loved Ones And Yourself!
More Americans Have Died From Accidental Gun Shootings Than All The
Americans Killed In Vietnam!
Buy A Gun And Up The Suicide Rate By 57 Times!!
If more guns made us safer, then the U.S. would the safest country in the world.
Stop the government plot to confiscate our cars by forcing us to register them!
I strongly encourage others to come up with more and better slogans.
ABOUT Ian I Mitroff
Ian I. Mitroff is a crisis expert. He is an Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley. His most recent book is Swans, Swine, and Swindlers: Coping with the Growing Threat of Mega Crises and Mega Messes, Stanford, 2011.
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3 comments on "Want to End Gun Violence? Write a Good Bumper Sticker!"
May 10, 2013 7:00am
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February 16, 2013 11:17am
I like the one that says People die, Not Guns. It is simple and oh too true! How about " My kids are not bullet proof, stop the NRA"