Hoplophobia is a pejorative[1] neologism originally coined to describe an “irrational aversion to weapons, as opposed to justified apprehension about those who may wield them.” It is sometimes used more generally to describe the “fear of weapons” or the “highly salient danger of these weapons ” or the “fear of armed citizens”.

Firearms authority and writer Jeff Cooper claims to have coined the word in 1962 to describe what he called a “mental aberration consisting of an unreasoning terror of gadgetry, specifically, weapons.“  The term was constructed from the Greek ὅπλον – hoplon, meaning amongst others “arms,”[8] and φόβος – phobos, meaning “fear.” Although not a mental health professional, Cooper employed the term as an alternative to other slang terms, stating: “We read of ‘gun grabbers’ and ‘anti-gun nuts’ but these slang terms do not [explain this behavior].” Cooper attributed this behavior to an irrational fear of firearms and other forms of weaponry. Cooper’s opinion was that “the most common manifestation of hoplophobia is the idea that instruments possess a will of their own, apart from that of their user.” Writing in an opinion piece, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Dimitri Vassilaros asserted that the term was intended by Cooper as tongue-in-cheek to mock those who think guns have free will.

via Hoplophobia – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.