Let’s be honest here. We’ve kind of been getting our butts kicked for a while now. While there’s reason to believe the tide is starting to shift, there’s a ton of work that needs to be done.

While a lot of pro-gun groups target legislatures–and really, for good reason–there is also a certain degree of public relations that needs to be done as well. The legislatures generally reflect the attitudes of the people. If you have an anti-gun legislature, there’s a decent chance you also have an anti-gun population, at least in some parts of the state.

That kind of drove home for me when I came across this story earlier today.

Five people were arrested after a probation search uncovered a dozen illegal firearms inside of a Stockton residence, authorities said.

The Stockton Police Department conducted a probation search Saturday afternoon at around 4 in the 6000 block of Palamino Court.

Officers located twelve illegal guns during the search.

In the photo of the firearms shared by Stockton Police, a few handguns and various assault rifles can be seen.

Of course, these aren’t California-legal rifles we’re talking about either, so it’s a huge gun control fail.

The problem isn’t just the arrest, though.

No, the problem is the attitude of a neighbor interviewed by the media.

“That’s disturbing. No one should have that many firearms, especially that type. We don’t need that in our neighborhood. I don’t want it in my neighborhood,” Danny Pullen said.

“I didn’t think my neighborhood would have something like that,” Dave Phem said.

That right there is the attitude we need to address.

“No one should have that many firearms,” the man said. My question is, why not? What’s wrong with having a large number of firearms? I’m not suddenly more dangerous because I have 12 guns than I was when I had 11. I can only fire so many at a time.

But that’s just superficial. That’s not the real problem here.

No, the real problem is that there are people who think needs should play a factor into who can have what kind of gun. The problem is that there are folks who think people should be limited in how they exercise their rights. It’s that some folks seem to believe that gun control not only works but is an unmitigated good.

We have to address this. We have to make it a point to counter this attitude.

Look, I don’t know Dave Phem. I don’t live in California so I probably never will. I’m sure he’s a swell guy. However, his thinking is the problem and it’s a problem we need to fight back against. We need to address this kind of thinking if we want to do more than just weather the storm we currently find ourselves in.

If we can counter this kind of thinking, if we can educate people into understanding why this kind of attitude is wrong, we can not just weather this storm, but all the storms to come.

We’ve been playing the wrong game. It’s time to change our tactics.