This thread is interesting in that it is to distinctly different conversations.
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Originally Posted by Glenn E. Meyer
One problem of broadly inclusive diagnoses as preventing gun ownership is that it would prevent folks who need help from getting it. Unless a condition is really, really directly predictive - I'd be very cautious about stigmatizing folks.
We found in our PTSD/Cop work that officers who suffered would not seek help or see department psychologists as they felt it would hit their job evaluations - even if said to be confidential.
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Indeed. The other problem with restricting the possession of firearms solely on the basis of a medical diagnosis is that a medical diagnosis is not an adjudication. A significant and permanent curtailment of an individual's rights without due process is problematic.
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Originally Posted by Come and take it
Also why would we want to keep a gun out of a felons hands or a person who due to his condition is a danger to himself or others, but at the same time allow them to drive a car?
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In my state, if he is an
adjudicated incompetent, he is not entitled to drive a car.
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Originally Posted by PawPaw
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Originally Posted by Glenn E Meyer
Throwing around a term like hoplophobia - implying a true anxiety disorder is fairly useless. So is using the term neurosis in modern parlance when trying to put down an antigun person.
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Agreed.
So, let a layman ask the question: If we agree that "hoplophobe" is a pejorative, what is the preferred term for someone who is afraid of guns? Or are labels useless in this debate?
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That hoplophobe is a pejorative is not a reason to withhold its use. The concept of an irrational fear of arms is itself negative. That hoplophobe is not currently a legitimate medical or psychological diagnosis is also not a reason to withhold its use. Many words that are not psychiatric argot use Greek constructions, and the use of a Greek construction is not itself a medical or psychiatric diagnostic claim.
As a matter of political discourse, describing an opponent's irrational fear as a phobia can be very useful. It has been used in the recent past to marginalize and stigmatize positions that are not the result of a psychiatric disorder.
It is likely more useful in calm and reflective fora to explain why a fear of arms is irrational, but not every consequential political conversation is calm and reflective. If a pejorative effectively conveys the lack of a reasonable basis for a position, it is not obviously unfair to use it.