The Overton Window is the range of ideas the public finds acceptable in political discourse. Ideas outside this window are considered extreme, unthinkable, and unacceptable. Over time, the Overton Window on any topic can shift on its own, or be shifted with a smart strategy of radical incrementalism. The change in public attitudes towards same-sex relationships and resulting changes to public policy are a good example of how radical incrementalism works.
Less than 3 years ago, gun controllers went apoplectic over Rep. Thomas Massie’s Christmas family photo because they don’t consider this “acceptable”:
On guns, it appears that the Overton Window has been shifting. Despite decades of repetitive lying by gun control activists that owning a gun makes you statistically less safe than not owning one, Vice President Kamala Harris recently claimed that she is a gun owner. She even made a statement seemingly in support of the Castle Doctrine, saying she would shoot anyone who broke into her house. I don’t believe her for a second, but the fact that she’s saying these things means that gun ownership and the Castle Doctrine are squarely in the middle of the Overton Window. Unlike Rep. Massie, Kamala Harris won’t post a photo of herself with whatever gun she claims she owns, but her admission is an indication of what the public finds acceptable.
It’s our job as Second Amendment supporters to move this Overton Window further. There’s a saying that politics is perception. Candidates for elected office are in the business of building an image and perception, and credibility is a big part of that. If politicians want to build their credibility, we as Second Amendment supporters must force them to earn it.
How do we go about doing that? What ritual(s) should a political candidate perform to earn “street cred” with the Second Amendment community?
In the past, Fudd-ish posing like Tim Walz or standing next to a target with an AR-15 like Gabby Giffords may have sufficed, but it shouldn’t cut it in the future. We need to force candidates to do more. What could that be?
Tim Walz on the sporting clay course at the Caribou Gun Club in Minnesota in 2018. Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune, via Getty Images.
As a first step, I propose asking politicians and political candidates whether or not they’ve built guns, be it an AR-15 or a 10/22.
There are ample resources on how to continue the American tradition of building your own gun. This tradition is in the crosshairs of gun controllers. One way of arresting gun controllers’ scheming is by getting candidates to build their own personal AR-15 and mainstreaming it.
A candidate shouldn’t just be let off because he or she bought a fully assembled lower and upper and slapped them together and claimed they built their own AR-15. Get them to upload a video of themselves hunting for a detent spring that flew off in the assembly process, or swearing in exasperation because they marred the receiver while installing the bolt catch pin. Earn our trust. Be one of us.
If political candidates are hesitant, let’s ferret out celebrities who are shy to admit they’re building guns at home. Normalization is the goal. It takes time to move something from unacceptable to perfectly normal. Celebrities may be a first milestone on this road.
Second, I propose asking candidates about training and instruction. Gun controllers have been pushing onerous training requirements as an underhanded way of making it harder to own guns. Let’s find out what candidates did for their own training, regardless of the law mandating it. Did they just buy a gun, stash it in a kitchen cabinet, and brag about being a gun owner? Did they take a basic NRA course and call themselves “trained”? Or are they making ongoing visits to the range, attending different types of classes, and continuing to practice and improve? Let them tell us.
Finally, let’s start asking candidates about their experience with 3-D printing guns. Have they tried downloading a file and letting an Ender 3 Pro printer print a pistol frame with PLA+ filament? Have they tried running a CNC machine to make an AR-15 lower? This will be the furthest outside of the Overton Window, but we should get there eventually.
We have been burned too many times by fair-weather friends of the Second Amendment who fold like a wet paper when the going gets tough. Shifting the Overton Window will help us sort the wheat from the chaff. We should start pursuing this, and the sooner the better.
