Unified Message - Terms and slogans/sayings

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:15 am

There is a real need for a unified message for the right to carry movement. The anti-gunners successfully use these slogans all the time, and it works wonders. Across the board they use the same manufactured terms and it makes their message much more effective, because people simply hear it repeated and repeated and repeated and then people repeat it themselves. This is a very old technique and one we should turn around and use for good.

This list will be continually updated:

TRANSITION - We are in the transition to Right to Carry. There's no more uncertainty about it. It's going to happen. This puts us in the TRANSITION to Right to Carry, and we should use the word TRANSITION as much as possible. Our goal is to educate people, work with elected officials, and do everything we can to make this transition timely and effective. We want it to come as quickly as possible and we want it to affect as many people as possible. This will do the most good for everyone.

RIGHT TO CARRY - use as often as possible. Avoid saying concealed carry unless you are mentioning that 48 states have concealed carry...or are talking about specific benefits of concealed carry. Right to carry should be used as frequently as possible.

PISTOL - please use this instead of "gun." Pistol sounds much more innocent and non-threatening. Weapon should NOT be used and handgun should DEFINITELY not be used ever. Every time you use one of these words God kills a kitten.

CONTAINER CARRY - For years I've been one of the biggest advocates of "fannypack carry" and have used that term all the time. I have decided to change it to "container carry" because it is more accurate and reflective of the law. The law actually says "or other container" so this is the most broad language used in the actual statutes for Illinois. We should use this all the time.

FIREARM - Sometimes "gun" has a bad association or connotation to it. A good way to avoid this is to use the word firearm instead.

Radical Anti-Gun Extremism (RAGE) - A fitting and accurate term for anti-gunners who wish to arrest and imprison the women, the elderly, minorities, and veterans of our country for merely owning (keeping) and carrying (bearing) firearms. Victimless crimes, no criminal intent, these radical and extremists want to completely ban guns and completely ban the possession of them.

If you see incorrect terms being used by any of us, please let me know. I need to go back and look through all of my posts to fix them as well. Let's have ICarry set the standard here for these terms and we can really help the movement out. Kindly and politely encourage others via PM or email to use these terms too.

What we're doing is taking 1,000 different "messages" to the public and collecting them into fewer messages. More people saying the same things works tremendously better than saying different things. Like the crowd chanting at a sports game. It doesn't work worth if everyone is saying something different. But when they all say the same thing it's heard loud and clear!

Suggestions/amendments to this are welcome

Member **Founders Club** Joined: Dec 12, 2007 Posts: 2549

I'm not saying we should use one or the other, but I've always liked the ring of firearm as opposed to gun. I also use it because it encompasses pistols, rifles, shotguns, etc.... so it is more general. I don't want to just push for the right to carry a pistol, I also want to protect the rights of hunters, etc...

I think it is a great idea to use more friendly words, and to have a unified front. Thanks for all your work Shaun.

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:32 am

A perfect example of how this technique has been used AGAINST us and AGAINST rights and freedom is with the term ""assault weapon"." This was a manufactured term - one not used by anyone before its conception as a way to demonize firearms. By getting politicians, the media, and everyone to start using this term, it was WIDELY put to the public as a unified message.

By repeating and repeating and repeating it they were able to ban a large group of semi-automatic firearms.

See how important and effective it can be to use the same term?

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:35 pm

The stickers say "concealed carry" and not Right to Carry. Also I was wondering if we can get the stickers with the adhesive on the back so they can be placed on the outside of a window. Otherwise it wouldn't show through on tinted windows.

Newbie Joined: Nov 27, 2009 Posts: 7

I've always been partial to the saying "If we outlaw guns only outlaws will have guns." Changing 'guns' to 'firearms,' if necessary, would not negatively affect the message. It's short, simple, and to the point. It may have become a cliche, but it's impossible to argue with because it's true. And it addresses the belief that anti-gun people have that making guns illegal will make them go away, when in reality it only disarms the law-abiding.

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:25 am

Also, use "Firearm, pistol, or Gun" instead of weapon. Weapon has a negative connotation. I'll probably refer to them as weapons given I'm in school to be a cop...

Private Joined: Sep 25, 2009 Posts: 121

Probably people wouldn't know it without explaining it, but when I carry concealed (when the time comes), I NEVER want to be asked if I'm carrying, even if just by my fiance.

If anything, I'll make sure she asks if I have my PDA (Personal Defense Apparatus). OK, so that doesn't apply to talking to other people openly, but thought I would share it...

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 11:31 pm

AndrewGollup wrote:

Probably people wouldn't know it without explaining it, but when I carry concealed (when the time comes), I NEVER want to be asked if I'm carrying, even if just by my fiance.

If anything, I'll make sure she asks if I have my PDA (Personal Defense Apparatus). OK, so that doesn't apply to talking to other people openly, but thought I would share it...

Before I moved back to this state, my wife would ask did I bring my buddy along.
And in the old old days people would refer to the cousins, Smith and Wesson

Private Joined: Aug 19, 2009 Posts: 118

Something similar to what Ohio has come up with might be good.

They have little signs that they post on businesses that do not like concealed carry.

The basic message is "Weapons Free Crime Zone", with a few bells and whistles.

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 1:53 pm

I'm not sure about this one, but I have often heard people refer to it as a sidearm. Is that correct or not?

Private Joined: Jan 13, 2010 Posts: 268

A side arm is a firearm, usually a pistol, which is worn on the body in a holster to permit immediate access and use.

A side arm is typically required equipment for military personnel and sometimes carried by law enforcement personnel. Usually, uniformed personnel of these services wear their weapons openly, while plainclothes personnel have their side arms concealed under their clothes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_arm dual

Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:57 am

I woke up in the middle of the night at around 4 AM and had this term was in my mind:

Radical Anti-Gun Extremism (RAGE) - A fitting and accurate term for anti-gunners who wish to arrest and imprison the women, the elderly, minorities, and veterans of our country for merely owning (keeping) and carrying (bearing) firearms. Victimless crimes, no criminal intent, these radical and extremists want to completely ban guns and completely ban the possession of them.

It can also be "Radical Anti-Gun ExtremIST" or (and a friend of mine just added this in for me) simply RAGER. "He's a rager" etc.

In my opinion it is radical and extreme to want to imprison people when they haven't hurt anyone, when they have no criminal intent, and when all they are trying to do is enjoy their heritage, exercise freedom, and to ensure their safety. These people want to FORCEFULLY TAKE AWAY OUR ABILITY TO PROTECT OURSELVES. They want to enforce gun control at gun point. They want to throw people in prison for owning a gun or carrying a gun.

This is true radicalism and extremism. Now we can label it.

Private Joined: Jan 19, 2010 Posts: 131

Love it!

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:05 am

Pistol, revolver, shotgun, and rifle are all proper terms. Weapon does sound kinda nasty to some laypersons. As a former police officer, I always referred to my sidearm as "my weapon". When dealing with all of those poor, innocent victims of circumstance on the streets..., the term weapon was used in reference to a firearm, knife, metal knuckles, blunt instrument, etc. Weapon meant anything which was intended to inflict serious bodily injury or death.

Sergeant Joined: Nov 12, 2009 Posts: 1524

DownhomeCharley wrote:

Pistol, revolver, shotgun, and rifle are all proper terms. Weapon does sound kinda nasty to some laypersons. As a former police officer, I always referred to my sidearm as "my weapon". When dealing with all of those poor, innocent victims of circumstance on the streets..., the term weapon was used in reference to a firearm, knife, metal knuckles, blunt instrument, etc. Weapon meant anything which was intended to inflict serious bodily injury or death.

peoria was supose to be a test city for IL CCW what is the status of that plan?

got any info??