hoplophobia

(HAWP.luh.foh.bee.uh)

n.

The fear of guns.

—hoplophobe n.

—hoplophobic adj.

Example Citations:

A Utah gun-rights group has an eye out for hoplophobes.

Never heard of hoplophobia? Most people haven't. The made-up word to describe people who fear guns hasn't caught on. Not even longtime gun enthusiasts are familiar with the term.

"We lead the state in sales, but we've never heard that," said Norman Van Wagenen, whose family has been in the firearms business in Provo since 1958.

The Utah Shooting Sports Council is trying to get hoplophobia into the local vernacular as well as the often bitter gun rights debate.

— Dennis Romboy, "Gun-rights group touts new 'word'," Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), December 29, 2003

Alan Korwin, author of the Arizona Gun Owner's Guide and one of the media participants, chalks up the media's lack of attention to Second Amendment issues to "hoplophobia," which is an irrational fear of firearms. When asked what a rational fear of firearms would be, Korwin replies, "When someone is pointing a loaded gun at you."

— Quetta Carpenter, "Gun Nut," Phoenix New Times (Phoenix, Arizona), October 3, 2002

Earliest Citation:

"These gun-control people suffer from hoplophobia," said John Snyder, spokesman for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The word is of Greek origin and means an unusual fear of weapons.

— Carleton R. Bryant, "Bush sees no need for new gun laws," The Washington Times, January 3, 1991

Notes:

The term combines the Greek prefix hoplo-, weapon, and the suffix  -phobia, fear.

Related Words:

Baracknophobia

cosmophobia

firing squad photo

first-person shooter

micro-gun

Categories:

Diseases and Syndromes

Psychology

Anger and Anxiety