One of the most annoying things about gun control activists is that they absolutely refuse to listen to anyone on this side of the debate. While we all understand their arguments and can articulate them just fine, they don’t seem to actually listen to any of us about why we support the Second Amendment. Like, at all.

Instead, they keep trying to make emotional appeals that make it clear they haven’t listened to a thing any gun rights advocate has ever said to them.

Appeals like this one:

We are the children of gun violence. We are the generation of Columbine, of Virginia Tech, of Sandy Hook, of MSD. We are the children who know every exit and hiding place in our schools.

When we were young we were taught to hide, if you’re quiet maybe the shooter won’t find you, maybe you’ll live. We got older and were taught to fight back.

Plastic chairs and textbooks don’t do a lot of good against an assault rifle, but if you’re going to die anyway at least go down fighting.

…

We are YOUR children, and until you love us more than you love your guns we will continue to die. We will die in our schools, our concert venues, our places of worship, and our shopping centers, and you will watch us, and you will send “condolences” and “thoughts and prayers.”

You will be “saddened by the loss” and “pledge the total support of the Federal Government.” But until you make a change, a real, meaningful change, OUR blood is on YOUR hands.

What this whole op-ed does is present a false dichotomy, a type of logical fallacy where things are presented as an either/or situation when there’s at least one other possible solution.

In this case, it’s that we either love guns or our children.

Never discussed is that many of us have guns because we love our children. I can’t protect them from harsh language or good thoughts. We will protect them with our lives if need be. Some parents have. Others of us have decided that we’re not just willing to protect our children, but also to make sure that if we go down, the killer wouldn’t be free to murder other people’s children.

After all, an estimated 2.5 million people use a firearm to defend their life or someone else’s every single year. That’s 2.5 million people who don’t die because of guns, if not more. After all, one defensive gun use could save dozens of lives.

If at all possible, should I find myself in such an awful situation, I’d much rather be armed and able to protect my family and anyone else I can than to just be gunned down and have to hope my loved ones survive.

It’s not a case of needing to decide between my guns and my kids. I refuse to give up my guns because I love my children so much. The fact that anti-gunners don’t seem to get this and keep making arguments like the one linked to above only illustrates yet another reason why there can’t be a meaningful discussion. You can’t have a conversation with someone who won’t actually listen to what you’re saying.