Gun controllers thrive on misinformation. They are particularly good at manipulating uninformed people with emotional claims not based in fact. The more nefarious among them stoke emotional responses using dressed-up “evidence” presented out of context. The Project Unloaded organization is a good example.
Project Unloaded’s stated mission is to “create a new cultural narrative that guns make us less safe.” To be fair, Project Unloaded is not pushing a gun control agenda or seeking to restrict guns, accessories, or ammunition. They are smart enough to realize that gun ownership rates are rising, despite the gun control lobby’s best efforts. They focus on the safety narrative, as if not owning guns is the key to that nebulous propaganda term.
Instead, they are resurrecting former Attorney General Eric Holder’s assertion that “We have to do this every day of the week and just really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way.” Holder advocated an anti-gun campaign similar to the information war against cigarettes. Again, to be fair, Holder’s speech was mostly focused on inner-city gang violence, but his general anti-gun stance is well known after his stint at the Justice Department.
Changing the Narrative
Project Unloaded is expanding Holder’s idea to target gun ownership across the board. They are targeting teens and young adults with their message of “Safer Not Using Guns” or “SNUG.” They understand that those age groups are more easily swayed and more likely to accept their message at face value, especially given their slick presentation.
The SNUG campaign is promoted through several social media influencers popular with those age groups. These influencers are not subject matter experts by any stretch of the imagination. I checked out all of them on social media. They seem like talented and engaging people. Yet not one demonstrates any knowledge of firearms, nor do their platforms even address that subject.
Project Unloaded has no doubt paid them very well to push the SNUG message. They tell people that they don’t have to take a position on guns. They can just be “SNUG.” They then throw out the curated “facts” provided by Project Unloaded. So, in this case, they are paid mouthpieces with no real knowledge or opinions of their own. But Project Unloaded knows they hold enormous power over their followers’ opinions. It’s a shrewd, but underhanded, move.
Despite saying they don’t have to take a position, convincing impressionable people that guns make them less safe leads those folks to take the anti-gun position as they grow older. The goal is to push the Project Unloaded mission statement to reduce the number of gun owners going forward.
Fewer gun owners means less resistance to the end goal of severe gun restrictions. It’s a tried-and-true propaganda technique. It may seem relatively harmless on the surface, but it’s a calculating effort to undermine the Second Amendment and what it stands for.
Incomplete “Facts”
Project Unloaded’s website says that “Guns make us all less safe. Get the facts.” It then lists lots of categories of people and how they are affected by gun violence. They essentially boil it down to this: Having a gun in the house or on your person increases the chance of being injured or killed by someone using a gun. They support that with statistical statements. Sounds scary, right?
Well, not really, if you think about it. For instance, would you agree that riding in a car increases your chance of being injured or killed in a car crash versus staying at home or walking? Of course, you would. How about this one: Do you think going swimming increases your risk of drowning? Certainly.
Risk Assessment and Mitigation
Life is a series of risk assessments. As Bilbo Baggins once said, “It’s a dangerous business…going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no telling where you might be swept off to.” Everything we do carries risk. Even lying in your bed all day with the covers over your head risks poor health and all its attendant dangers.
Each person decides how much risk is acceptable and mitigates that risk as best they can. Learning to drive properly or to swim mitigates the risks inherent in those activities. As a gun owner, I mitigate the risk of keeping firearms by following the four rules of firearms handling. My father was very strict about such things, and they are ingrained in me because of it. I also train regularly.
I do not support mandatory training for gun ownership. It is, after all, a Constitutionally protected right, as opposed to driving and swimming. I do, however, advocate for voluntary training, even if it’s just seeking out a knowledgeable friend or family member.
Project Unloaded does not discuss mitigation. It’s an all-or-nothing thing for them. Guns are bad. Period. There is no upside, at least not according to their narrative. They ask teens and young adults to take their assertions at face value through a “cool” (or whatever the word is these days) propaganda campaign.
Firearms ownership isn’t for everyone, and that’s fine. My problem with Project Unloaded is that they don’t want people to decide for themselves. It’s all danger with no mitigation strategies. Purely a one-sided argument. Indoctrination, if you will. Deliberately withholding information and context does not support their claim that their targets “don’t have to pick a side.” Or perhaps it does since Project Unloaded is deciding for them by cherry-picking information.
Misleading “Facts”
Much of Project Unloaded’s statistical information deals with inner-city gang violence, though they do not make that distinction. But that’s to be expected. Gun controllers routinely lump that in with other gun-related numbers. Yet, they neglect to address the other causes of such violence, such as the socio-economic and educational problems plaguing those areas. Gun violence is a symptom of gang activity in poor neighborhoods, not the other way around.
To hear groups like Project Unloaded tell it, homicide, suicide, and fatal accidents would disappear if guns suddenly vanished. Their website all but says as much. But, once again, their messaging targets younger, less well-informed people and they do not tell both sides.
Coming Up in Part 2
We’ll publish part 2 of our look at Project Unloaded next week. We’ll cover their “myth busting” effort and demonstrate how they leave out vital information while doing so. We’ll dive into their source material and briefly address where Project Unloaded gets its funding.
Project Unloaded seeks to change the narrative around firearms ownership by scaring impressionable people. The only way to counteract their efforts is to talk about gun ownership’s benefits and how to mitigate its possible dangers. We must also understand and be able to communicate the Second Amendment’s meaning and importance in our society. We must be better informed so we can tell the truth.
