Real Men Don't Use Handguns

Illustration of a black gun with a red "No" symbol over it with black text above and below on a white background

The image on this button comes from no gun zone signs used to advise people of local gun laws and where they cannot bring their guns. "Real men" jokes about the extreme masculinity that became common in the 1980s. This button plays on these jokes to convince men not to carry or use handguns. The phrase "real men don't" was heavily used by gun control advocates in the 1990s to convince men not to shoot people, especially innocent people, because owning a gun was seen as masculine. This button singles out handguns because they are not usually used for hunting.