I did the unthinkable; I asked ChatGPT what advice gun-control groups have for Thanksgiving conversations. “Good question,” complemented ChatGPT.
“Yes—several gun-control/gun-safety groups do have advice for how to talk about guns at holiday gatherings like Thanksgiving. Here are some of their key recommendations … .” said my AI friend.
First, it advised me to use “‘I’ statements and personal framing.” For this advice, this AI engine drew on an article from the gun-control group Giffords. “Giffords suggests using ‘I feel…’ or ‘I believe…’ to express your concerns, rather than coming across as accusatory,” said ChatGPT. “This helps to keep the conversation from escalating and makes it more about your concern for safety, not just political ideology.”
With an honest foundation—sans this group’s political spin—this is actually not bad advice; for example, someone might ask, “I feel that women in particular—this goes double for single mothers and the elderly—need their Second Amendment rights, so they can protect themselves until help arrives.”
Next, in all bold mind you, ChatGPT said gun-control groups advise to “talk about responsible gun safety, not just gun laws.”
Again, with the gun-control groups’ spin taken out, this is not bad advice. We can have conversations about the NRA’s resources that contribute to actual gun safety, such as that can be found at gunsafetyrules.nra.org and nrainstructors.org.
Then this AI engine drew on Giffords again to say we should “remind people that gun safety doesn’t necessarily mean taking away guns. According to Giffords, part of the conversation can focus on safe storage (unloaded, locked, separate from ammo), licensing and responsible use.”
Well, isn’t that nice of them. This gun-control group’s preferred policies don’t “necessarily mean taking away guns.” They, of course, want we the peoples’ guns, nonetheless. The rest of this advice, however, is gobbledygook, as a self-defense gun that is unloaded, locked and separate from ammo is of no use at all. Still, there is room for conversation on modern gun safes, how we store non-self-defense firearms, why it is critical to our freedom to keep the government out of our gun safes and more—again, all of that can be found in the NRA’s actual gun-safety advice.
This AI engine then noted that the gun-control group Brady United has a “holiday toolkit that encourages people to check in: ask, ‘Is there an unlocked or loaded gun in your home?’”
Thanks again for the conversation starter! Yes, indeed there is a self-defense gun that is ready in my home. If someone wants an individual and intricate conversation about gun storage, we’ll talk about that offline.
Finally, this AI engine drew on gun-control groups’ advice to be agreeable: “agree to agree” it said. “Avoid immediately shifting into political talking points. Instead, listen for their fears, motivations, and values, then respond from that place.”
This made me wonder how many gun-control activists realize that preparation is not a synonym for fear. The motivation to protect loved ones should be obvious enough, but the “values” question is where things could get interesting.
Do these gun-prohibition groups actually value life? They have appropriated the “gun-safety” moniker to make this claim, but their value for life quickly falls apart on analysis.
Of course, ChatGPT did list more advice from gun-control groups, but the rest was mostly variations on the points already addressed—well, except for a lot of talk about deescalation.
On this last point I agree; after all, the beautiful thing about Thanksgiving conversations with relatives who might have issues with our freedom is that the word itself is a lovely combination of thanks and giving.
“Oh, what are you thankful for on this very American day?” a gun owner might ask as a parry to anything said to incite. “And what are you giving?”
This second question turns the conversation to the meal, which is loaded with reality.
“I am thankful for the turkey,” I recall telling my gun-hating aunt from Cambridge one fine Thanksgiving many years ago. At the time, I proudly told her about how I had hunted down and killed the turkey for the table that year. She was appropriately appalled. I was very young then and much too sarcastic—I remember next warning her to watch out for the no. 4 shot in the bird. She did not know what that meant, but she knew it was a retort to her diatribe about the lack of ethics in omnivores such as me.
That was many years ago and, unfortunately, I no longer have any relatives who bring anti-human politics to family gatherings, which, now that I think about it, is likely why I went to ChatGPT for a little amusing repartee.
