Are you yelling yay guns or nay guns? Did you grow up with guns or have you never seen one in your life? How much do you know about them? How much should you know about the pieces of metal that make some people so very upset?

I really do not care if you are all for these guns or the president of the anti-gun club. You should know and you need to know about guns. The debates on gun issues are not going away and both sides should know what are talking about. Educate yourself, please. Why? If you want to debate, you should be an educated debater. Both sides of the argument should get their facts right. Please look further than the common arguments and cliché rhetoric. We have all heard it enough times and we know what you are going to say. The better we are at talking about both sides, the more progress we will make in our discussions of topic.

To my NAY gun peeps . . . Get some knowledge on the actual guns too. Even if you don’t own a gun or are around one please take a gun safety class. Or find a good buddy to teach you. Those in favor of guns have no problem with this but those who aren’t need some work in this area. If you are arguing against them but don’t have any experience with them, you will not be taken seriously. There are ways to do this in a safe environment like in classes sponsored by your local law enforcement office. Do it for your argument skills and do it for your own safety. Guns can be dangerous, and you should know what do if you are ever encountered with one. If anything, it may make you feel better about them. Be open to learning about them.

To my YAY gun peeps . . . help educate those who do not know about guns. But do so in a manner that will help people understand. Talk about the different types of guns and the purpose of them. Why do you personally want to own one or multiple? Was it easy to get them? Where do you keep them? Open up the conversation in a positive way and please don’t shut down if a person is still anti-gun. Consider the arguments against guns and open up the dialect the other way.

We all need to do better when talking about guns so let’s do that. If you still feel one way or another after receiving the information then at least you have the information. You can and should be making an educated decision one way or another and feel confident in that choice.