Cry macho: Why scared white guys are so dangerous

[CousinIT]

https://www.salon.com/2021/09/19/cry-macho-why-scared-guys-are-so/

I once lived next door to a guy in Memphis who owned more than a hundred firearms, some of which were strewn around his two-bedroom house and even lying on the kitchen counter. I saw them when he asked me to come over one afternoon to help him move his 700-pound gun safe.

Neil, as I'll call him, also kept two large dogs, one of which was a cane corso that was so unpredictable it couldn't be allowed near his two young children. Neil was a nice guy but perpetually anxious and nervous, which in turn made me uneasy about his family's safety. I worried about a gun accident or one of the dogs getting loose and mauling a passerby.

The fact is, there are a lot of Neils in America — white guys in a near-constant state of fear about their personal safety. And rather than being merely pitiful, guys like Neil are actually dangerous.

They're the hyper-armed neighbors with itchy trigger fingers, who are convinced they'll be the victims of a home invasion; who treat any Black or brown person as an imminent threat; who see foreign terrorists behind every bush; who believe the government is trying to poison them, plant a chip inside them, or take away their hunting rifles; who think that crime is far worse than it is and on the verge of spilling into outright anarchy.

[Thomas Hurt]

1. conservatives don't feel special unless someone(s) is out to get them.

To the fascist life is war and they are raised to be heroes. Fascists fear monger and scapegoat.

[aggiesal]

9. They're not happy unless they're miserable. n/t

[meow2u3]

20. And they can't stand it unless they make others miserable, too

That's the loser mentality of the modern GOP.

[radicalleft]

2. And here I thought this was going to be a movie review

for the new Clint Eastwood flick...

[jrthin]

3. Added to this problem, a lot of Neils are in the police force. nt

[Binkie The Clown]

4. Devil's advocate:

(Disclaimer: I don't own any guns, and have no intention of ever doing so.)

I also have a very good friend who asked me and two other friends help him move his gun safe. He owns quite a few guns. Frankly, he's the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. Friendly, generous, considerate, leans conservative, but is not a dick about it. I couldn't ask for a better neighbor. I've known him for 16 years. I'd trust him with my life.

Beware of blanket generalizations.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. This article doesn't actually get into the "why" very well, relying instead on compelling details

showing the "how." The "why" is simply that we live in a supposedly zero-sum white supremacy, so when people who aren't white males start making gains, people who are white males are primed to feel like they're losing something.

[wysimdnwyg]

15. Bingo

To conservatives, 1+1=1.
To liberals, 1+1=3.

[uponit7771]

22. THIS!! ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾 That's why Obama's Tan suite freaked out MAGA Cult minded assholes; too much brown

[Mr.Bill]

6. In the 80s I experienced watching the making and demise of a gun nut.

My room mate bought a gun. Okay, nothing unusual about that. I owned one myself. Then he bought another, then another... Before you know it he owned about ten guns. I even went to the range with him a few times and we shot our guns. No big deal. Then the guns were laying around the house a lot. There were no kids there, so I thought no big deal. Then he would sit and watch TV with a gun in his hand, fondling it. He was a machinist, and he spent his weekends working on and modifying his guns. He got arrested one night for brandishing during an argument with a neighbor. He did a few weekends in jail.

It was becoming more than a hobby, it was consuming his life. The last straw was when I came home late one night and he came running down the dark hallway half awake with a Smith and Wesson .357 in his hand, thinking I was a burglar. I moved out shortly after that. I still remained friends with him, and about a year later he moved to Arizona after getting fired from his job for threatening his boss. I moved to Northern California around then, too. We both left Silicon Valley's rat race behind.

A few months later he blew his brains out with that .357 after having an argument with his girlfriend. He was 39 years old.

[central scrutinizer]

10. Far, far too often this would have been a murder-suicide

But suicide-nothing is better. Nothing-nothing is of course best.

[Mr.Bill]

19. I know what you mean.

I talked to his sister shortly after it happened and she said she was glad he had turned his violence inward instead of toward someone else.

[FakeNoose]

16. It's a sad story my friend, but way too common in this country

I'm hoping your friend didn't do anything to harm his girlfriend.

So often it's the GF or the wife who pays the price for American gun mania.

[uponit7771]

23. "...fired from his job for threatening his boss" The gun is a hammer and they go around looking for

... nails to hit ... everything becomes a nail though.

They get consumed

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. TFG's supporters are very stupid people

These idiots are scary

[central scrutinizer]

11. Arrogance+ignorance+paranoia

Toxic, explosive mix

[Iggo]

8. Gotta justify all them pea-shooters. (n/t)

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Paranoid and privileged

[relayerbob]

13. Utter cowardice

Afraid of their own shadows, but have to act tough to oversome their feelings of inadequacy. They *KNOW* they aren't right, but instead of fixing themselves, they externalize it all onto others. Borderling psychotic, IMO. As far as I'm concerned, anyone (without a truly just cause, such as an abused wife with a restraining order against her ex) who is so terrified that they feel a need for weapons, is too psychologically unbalanced to be allowed to own one.

[mountain grammy]

14. Today I saw a sticker on a back window..

"Buy more guns... piss of liberals"

Also the guy had a special license plate issued by Colorado after the Columbine HS shootings that says "respect life."

Don't know if he sees the irony.

[hunter]

17. Advertising one's gun love in my neighborhood...

... is the quickest way to invite burglars into your home.

A few years ago one of my neighbor's had burglars pop open his automatic garage door while he was away, drive their stolen truck into his garage, and close the door. This gave them plenty of time to load all his guns into the truck, including his huge gun safe.

It's maybe a good thing he didn't have mean dogs, for the dogs' sake.

If criminals in the U.S.A. want guns they have no trouble finding them.

I think any burglars breaking into my house are immediately horrified by the walls covered with bookshelves. My wife and I have literally thousands of books, more books than some small libraries.

E-books were a wonderful invention that have possibly kept our home from collapsing.

I don't have anything nice to say about guns.

Gun fetishes are disgusting.

[ffr]

18. Would you say he is less agreeable and conscientious, and more neurotic?

With that many guns, I imagine he problem does some of his own DIY ammo loading too.

[uponit7771]

21. SOOOOOOO Freakin true, all I say to these guys is I lived in the hood and was NEVER as scared as

... they act to collect 2134234143 guns and have signs talking about killing people.

[Hassler]

24. They don't get vaccinated because Jesus will protect them

(according to MS Guv Tater) so why do they need guns? Hint: they're cowards.

[Blue Owl]

25. Exhibit A: Donald tRump