English

Noun

hoplophobia ‎(uncountable)

1. (rare) The fear of guns.
   • 1979: United States House of Representatives: Firearms Legislation: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, First Session, Part 7, page 2529 ^[1]

     Gun control laws are proposed to control three basic areas: Crime, accidental shootings, and to calm those suffering from hoplophobia — these people generally align themselves with the first two so I won’t even consider that category.

   • 1998: Bob Knauer, in alt.nuke.europe, soc.culture.scottish, talk.politics.guns, uk.politics.crime, and uk.politics.misc

     One of the telltale characteristics of hoplophobia is terminal stupidity. That's because hoplophobia is a mental illness.

   • 1999: Barry B Wood, in dfw.general

     You'll be happy to learn that "hoplophobia" (irrational fear of weapons) has been recognized as an illness by the AMA, is treatable, and is now covered by most HMOs. Get thee to a psychiatrist!

   • 2000: Frank Zember, in alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, misc.survivalism, talk.politics.guns, and alt.law-enforcement

     Not exactly, subscribing to the hoplophobia of the left wing makes you a complete idiot.

   • 2015: James Taranto, in "Best of the Web: The Left Loses Control," The Wall Street Journal ^[2]

     That the [New York] Times's gun-control crusade is motivated by hoplophobia, rather than a sincere concern about crime and terrorism, can be demonstrated by a comparison with other Times editorials that do not focus on guns.

Usage notes

• Cooper coined the term to describe what he termed "mental disturbance characterized by irrational aversion to weapons". The word is not usually used in a medical sense. For further notes and references, see the Wikipedia article.

See also

• hoplophobe
• hoplophobic

References

1. ↑ United States House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary (1976), “Firearms Legislation: Hearings”, in Ninety-fourth United States Congress, retrieved January 15, 2016
2. ↑ Taranto, James (December 7, 2015), “The Left Loses Control”, in The Wall Street Journal, retrieved January 15, 2016