Firearm Fear

I thoroughly enjoyed James Lileks’s analysis of what is and is not a phobia (“Fear of Fear Itself,” August 24). Regarding his reference to the genuine fear of firearms we see so often on the left, may I submit a term that has seen usage in Second Amendment circles? “Hoplophobia” (hoplo-, weapon) combines the two Greek roots to describe an abnormal fear of weapons, typically firearms. The term was coined in the 1970s by Colonel Jeff Cooper, who developed and taught what is known as the “modern technique of the pistol,” which involves a two-handed grip and the use of sights. With a bachelor’s degree in political science from Stanford, a master’s in history from the University of California, Riverside, and two stints in the Marine Corps, serving in both World War II and the Korean War, Colonel Cooper was eminently qualified to give this abnormal fear a name.

Timothy Wheeler Upland, Calif.

Socialist Education

As usual, Kevin D. Williamson does an excellent job in his piece on the mysteriously enduring appeal of Karl Marx (“The Celestial Afterlife of Karl Marx,” August 24). I take but one exception:

Williamson says that Marxism is “making a little bit of a comeback among American progressives who have put out of their minds the 100 million corpses produced by socialism in the 20th century, along with the corpses socialism continues to produce in the 21st.” This would be true only if these deaths had ever been in the minds of today’s so-called progressives.

But that assumes they know the history on the topic. My son, now a freshman in college, certainly never learned about any of the horrors of socialism or communism during his twelve years in our public schools. How many of the wayward youths currently rioting in the streets, attacking and disparaging police, have any idea of what’s happened in the world, other than that U.S. history is a shameful cauldron of racism, slavery, and oppression?

This is not to excuse the historical illiteracy of those who topple statues and fawn at the likes of AOC and Bernie Sanders; the truth is out there for those who seek it. But I’m afraid Mr. Williamson is mistaken if he believes that even 1 percent of today’s American “progressives” know what socialism did in actual practice.

Steve D. McLin Walnut Creek, Calif.