Why Coworkers Friends and Family Don't Understand Firearm Ownership

A coworker commented on a Tampa Bay shooting on 4/15/2026, blaming me for selling firearms in the community. The incident involved two suspects, one juvenile and one 18-year-old, who used a firearm during a dispute—exact reasons unknown.

I always emphasize safety and responsible ownership in my classes as an FFL and Firearms Instructor.

Below are my thoughts and tips for conversations with those who advocate relinquishing Second Amendment rights and firearms.

Some coworkers, friends, or neighbors may be uneasy about us owning firearms not because of anything you or I have did wrong, but because they’re filtering the idea through their own experiences, fears, or misunderstandings. Many people only encounter firearms through news stories about crime or through entertainment that portray guns as inherently dangerous, so they instinctively associate ownership with risk rather than responsibility. Others may have grown up in households or communities where firearms were never part of normal life, so the idea feels foreign or intimidating. 

Another reason, some worry about safety simply because they don’t understand the layers of training, discipline, and legal responsibility that you practice every day. And in some cases, people project their own anxieties—about violence, about control, or about the world feeling unpredictable—onto anyone who chooses to own a firearm. None of this reflects your character or your professionalism. It reflects their lack of exposure to responsible ownership. 

Often, once people see the level of care, education, and integrity you bring to the subject, their discomfort softens because they finally understand the difference between a lawful, trained owner and the stereotypes they’ve been reacting to.

Gregg Kielma