Addiction: the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity: “he committed the theft to finance his drug addiction” · synonyms: dependency · dependence · habit · problem.

Anyone with even the most basic knowledge of psychology understands the concept of Addiction. Although it is usually ascribed to alcohol and drugs and represents an overwhelming and uncontrolled desire to a substance that is provably unhealthy for the individual or people around him or her, it has also been ascribed to pornography, sex, shopping, food, gambling and as I would serious like to point out (with a little snark to follow) is gun ownership.

Psychology Today has a more in-depth analysis regarding the overall condition of addiction than this blog post will go into. However here is their site:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/addiction

From this site I would like to focus on two key points they make:

1. “When referring to any kind of addiction, it is important to recognize that its cause is not simply a search for pleasure and that addiction has nothing to do with one’s morality or strength of character. Experts debate whether addiction is a “disease” or a true mental illness, whether drug dependence and addiction mean the same thing, and many other aspects of addiction. Such debates are not likely to be resolved soon. But the lack of resolution does not preclude effective treatment.”
2. How lack of insight sustains addiction: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/you-illuminated/201206/how-lack-insight-sustains-addiction

I encourage you all to read and tell me if this doesn’t explain the odd behavior of those who profess their guns over everything in life.

Gun Addicts cannot be dissuaded by validated research that shows beyond all doubt that ownership of a gun increases the likelihood of being shot and killed, research that an individual with a gun presents nearly zero impact in thwarting or stopping a mass shooting, research regarding the true history and nature of the 2^nd Amendment, they seriously believe the government is out to forcibly take all their guns away, they believe that they represent the majority view of all Americans despite clear polling that show 90% of all Americans (to include gun owners and members of the NRA) support Universal Background checks, ban of Assault Weapons and limitation of high capacity magazines. They refuse to accept that reasonable gun control measures in the world have been successful in reducing gun violence, they continue to be oblivious to the fact that their addiction is harming a nation trying to reduce the likelihood of another mass shooting and reduce other acts of gun violence. Also, many move beyond a mere psychological addiction to gun to the realm of psychosis when they say and believe, without batting an eye that the mass shootings at Sandy Hook and most recently in San Bernardino were “False Flag” government ran operations to try to take you guns away.

No, gun addiction is a problem for society as a whole and the addicts truly need help. One interesting thing I’ve noticed about these addicts is their fear of their guns being registered. On one hand they say they don’t want the government to know if they have guns while they proudly participate in Open Carry. Yes, these people have problems.

Therefore I suggest as a start to address this growing problem the creation of a new support group modeled under Alcoholic Anonymous. We can call it Armed Anonymous. It can be a group of Ammosexuals meeting together in a support group to address their needs and work on abetting their addiction to guns.

Of course it would require a 12 Step program:

1. We admitted we were powerless over the propaganda from the Gun lobbying group known as the NRA despite the overwhelming evidence countering everything they present.
2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves “Validated Research” could restore us to sanity. Oh so did compassionate Humanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives to the greater good of less gun violence because of our love for our fellow citizens.
4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of our weapon’s cache and ammunition and realized we weren’t going to war so why did we waste so much money?
5. Admitted to our family, friends and neighbors the exact nature of our gun fed paranoia.
6. We were entirely ready to have reason remove the defects of our pro-gun narrative.
7. Humbly ask our family, friends and neighbors to not be afraid of us anymore.
8. Made a list of all the stupid and unsupported claims we made about guns and became willing to admit to one and all we were completely wrong.
9. Told our representatives we were wrong about unfettered and unregulated gun ownership and finally pass Gunsense regulations.
10. Continued to take another inventory of the other guns we had stashed where children could get them and made them safe.
11. Sought through reason and research to question and debunk what other pro-gun advocates and the NRA say and vow to not be fooled again.
12. Told the nation that the best way to reduce gun violence is to reduce the number of guns especially among those who shouldn’t be anywhere near them like criminals, mentally/emotionally unstable people, domestic violence offenders, children and others who have not been trained and certified as responsible gun owners.

This is just a start, but I think it would be a good one. Share with your armed friends to help them gain realistic enlightenment.

By the way:

Since 9-11 the United States mainstream media have focused on “Radicalized Muslim Extremists”. Those on the Right and especially in the Republican Party get upset when a terrorist act involving a Muslim isn’t called “Radicalized Islamic Terrorism” or “Jihad”. They seem to focus more on the label than the act itself which I’ve always found interesting.  

Now a President cannot simply make broad statements declaring something as Terrorism because he is the Head of State and must contend with other Head of States who are still friendly to us that and who may be Islamic. His words carry the weight of our nation, our military and our foreign policy. This has applied to each and every President before Obama and every President to follow regardless of what mainstream pundits want to say. Now professionals in the State Department, FBI, CIA, Law Enforcement have specific “legal” criteria before they can label anything as “Terrorism” or anything else of that nature. So they tend to be measured when they make statements, but not as measured as the President must be.  

However, from a social media point of view which is where I speak from, I take the rule of social media and laymen around the country and world and have a very simple definition of Terrorism. I see it as an act designed to cause harm and death of innocent people to make a point of some sort. Many apply the term “Radical Islamic” when describing a terrorist act committed by a Muslim. I see that as a fair point. I actually have no issue with that. However, when you apply that label, you must consider that despite what many want to believe, because of what they hear on mainstream media or read on social media, Muslims are not the only group that can be radicalized.  

I really get annoyed with people like Bill Maher, who although despising all religions as mythology, singles out Islam as the worst. He says that from its roots it permits radicalization resulting in terrorism around the world. Bill is naïve. History shows clearly that there isn’t a faith or ideology that hasn’t had members “radicalized” to commit terroristic acts that they then in turn use some fragment of their faith or ideology to support the act. History is replete with extremists of some faith using violence against those within and outside that faith to commit violence. This is true with the Jews, the Muslims, the Christians, the Sikhs, the Buddhists, all faiths to include Atheists. It is also true that often the majority of victims from these groups tend to be members of the same faith. More Muslims are being killed by Radicalized Muslims than those from outside the religion. Doesn’t help when Christians help the radicals in killing more Muslims. 

We need not go way back in history for examples like the Crusades, the last century provides enough examples for us. In Ireland, extremist Catholics and Protestants battled each other with terrorist attacks. These attacks spread outside Ireland to England. In the Soviet Union, radical extreme Atheists under Stalin annihilated the Russian Orthodox Church, destroying their churches and sending the faithful to gulags to die. In Israel today, radicalized extreme Jews in small communities commit terroristic acts against Palestinian Muslims. In the Indian Sub-Continent, radicalized extreme Buddhist are slaughtering Muslims. In Africa a radicalized Christian sect has declared Homosexuality an act punishable by death. And in this nation, we have radicalized Christians in the KKK, Neo Nazi Groups citing their faith to burn down Black Churches, kill minorities, kill homosexuals, stalk harass and kill abortion providers. In fact since 9-11 the vast majority of all terrorist acts of violence in this country have been committed by radicalized extremist Christians, not Muslims. However mainstream media likes to focus on only the Muslim acts because news has gone from telling the public what they need to know to what they want to know. 

This is my theory for you all to consider.  

Radicalization has little to do with your faith or ideology. It’s more about your psychiatric and sociological environment. It’s more a result of a mental break than a religious break. However, once broken those involved grasp for anything real or imaginary to justify their violent acts.  

With the exception of Atheists, radicals can justify their acts by citing obscure Holy Book verses in or more likely out of context so they can say it’s with their God’s blessing. Again, it can be Allah, or the Jewish or Christian God (who in theory is the same God but that is another rant).  

Atheists try to explain it from a warped Humanism justification removing the constraints and lies of the opium of the masses. 

No matter, the problem isn’t the faith or lack thereof, it’s the radicalization that is to blame. Don’t blame Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs or Atheists per se for the acts of the radicalized extremists, blame the extremists. Perhaps explore what environmental and/or psychiatric factors played into the radicalization and look for ways to mitigate that.  

One thing is for sure, you create a vicious cycle when you blame and harm a faith for the acts of their extremists because that does tend to radicalize others, which radicalizes us and the cycle continues.