Scaring people is not a good strategy for preventing gun control
 

I increasingly see a lot people trying to use scare tactics against those who are more likely to sympathize with or push gun control.

That seems counterproductive. People who are scared, freaked out, or frightened by tactless displays of guns and gun bravado are much more likely to advocate gun control. They don't see a gun; they see a loony.

It would help more to explain why you have it, how you keep it safe, how it protects you and your loved ones, and even protects them as innocent people who might face an unjust aggressor.

These people often see someone with a gun as just another mass shooter who might kill them, and it doesn't help if they lurk on a site like ours and see something that only seems to confirm their viewpoint.

The Psych 101 term for this is Projection.

Funny thing that you believe law abiding citizens should explain why they are exercising their 2nd amendment rights . Just what is a tactless display of guns, hunters in a field hunting, people putting firearms in their vehicle in public view and removing the same under the same circumstances. and where is your evidence that gun owners are trying to use scare tactics against anti gun fools? Anti gun idiots are anti gun without seeing someone legally displaying a gun and I will be darned if I will kiss their butts, I would however defend them if their lives were in jeopardy and I was in possession of a firearm. That is the difference between anti gun people and lawful gun owners. You are on a hunting website so I suspect you own firearms, gun owners who give the appearance that they sympathize with anti gun people are as much a threat to gun ownership as anti gun types. Anti gun people should be more afraid of automobiles since people driving automobiles kill more people than lawful gun owners.

It's kind of hard to discuss this without some kind of quote or specific reference. In general, scared people don't tend to think through things and react instead. Politicians regularly use scare tactics because they work and so do pretty much all advocacy and special interest groups. That would include the antis and pro gun groups. But I digress. To discuss your OP statement with any kind of meaningfulness, I would want to see a specific example and also try to understand what you define as scaring people. Otherwise, I feel like I would be guessing at what you're referring to and would likely guess wrong.

As his second paragraph talks about people being "freaked out," I suspect he may have been referring to the title of ButchA's 1911 thread. "...I want to see if I can make them freak out..."

The thread of course doesn't include a tactless display of guns or gun bravado. But, for the left these days, even a child pointing a finger is a tactless display of guns and gun bravado, so I imagine that a picture of a real firearm could be quite frightening...

Just a passing observation, many people are kind of neurotic. The lady across the street called the police when she saw me at 0 dark thirty loading the Jeep up to go hunting. My guess was it was the first time she had ever gotten up that early. The sad part is I'm up most every morning way early and loading my rifle into the Jeep. The Police show up and tell me to use a gun case, I said sure I'll write Clarinet on the side of it so the obvious gun case doesn't upset anybody and laughed.
The neighbors tend to run hot and cold, depending on which way the wind is blowing. One couple. outgoing, obvious lefties, asked on Facebook if I had my rifle handy as there was a rash of break-ins, thanx for the advertising (asshat). I have no doubt they had bad-mouthed me in the past for owning those dangerous bang sticks. The old couple across the street chided me when I didn't show up when they had a push in home invasion, I was at work. The same people who chid me about killing helpless animals on Monday, demand protection on Tuesday. And I'm the first they approach when there is a problem critter.

Conflicting agendas produce conflicting results. I keep my paperwork in order and ignore them as much as possible. :)

The guy next door had an obviously really ill pet Hare, it was listless, its eyes were oozing puss, and had labored breathing... He called me over and asked what to do, my first thought was he had a house full of kids and a small daycare center. I grabbed the Hare by the ears clubbed it hard a few times at the base of the skull, put it in a garbage bag, washed my hands with disinfectant, and handed it back to him. His eyes got really big and froze in that position, guy is a dick anyway. I remember thinking it is a nasty job but someone has to do it. Most people are clueless.

Where are you seeing this?

Since you suggest this as a possible example, imagine someone clicking on the thread, seeing the picture, and drawing the conclusion that the gun itself is for scaring people. I doubt ButchA intended anything like that given what he explained,

A more extreme example: a few years ago, some fool insisted on walking down the sidewalk in suburbia naked with an AR-15 strapped to his back. He claimed that what he was doing was asserting his rights to free speech and expression as well as his 2nd amendments rights.

Except the people I have in mind are people who are very average and mainstream. For instance, a stereotypical "soccer mom" who isn't completely opposed to guns, may have a husband who has a few shotguns and a typical deer rifle, but is very apt to think an AR-15 is a so-called "weapon of war."

I have another example listed in another post, but consider several recent instances of rallies at state capitols where participants showed up wearing tactical gear and toted AR-15s.

That's not going to sit well with the stereotypical soccer mom. She's apt to see a Rambo who might open fire at the school she sends her kids. She'd be more likely to vote for gun control candidates.