I'm less likely to need opinions in areas where I don't make choices, but I will need opinions in areas where I might have to make a choice (even if I wish I didn't have to make it). So I’m content to be a bystander at, say, a town hall meeting, where I can let the experts duel it out. If a question shows up on a ballot, I’ll have to educate myself enough to mark a “yes” or “no.” But the question of how I show up (or don’t) at formal democratic decision-making may drift into a broader topic of how I show up in my life. Of course, life topics aren't predefined and are full of surprises, so it becomes (in part) a question of preparedness. Deciding what we are and aren't prepared to handle is a moral choice.

Generally, I support gun control; I think that is the key piece of reducing gun violence. But I don’t plan to own a gun, so I don’t need to know exactly how the government regulates the type of precise gun I’m not going to own, nor do I need to have detailed opinions tied to other people’s real lives about which I plan to learn zero relevant facts. (e.g., I don’t know or care what stores may legally sell guns nor what consequences a person should face if they break the law).

Unfortunately, I do need to know how I should behave when someone else has a weapon or makes a pointed comment at me saying they have a weapon. If I clear my throat and say, “Well, I’m not an expert (but I think I should not be threatened with a gun),” no one takes me seriously, and the person continues to threaten me. I'm just unprepared for the situation. Which is a choice I made because I didn't believe it would ever happen to me or I failed to imagine I'd ever need to stand up for anyone else.

It seems to me there are different dimensions where we might have, or not have, informed opinions. And sometimes the people in power will say or imply, Well, you’re not an expert on gun ownership, so it’s never your turn to talk on this topic, etc. — and where they go with that is: We don’t believe you when you say someone is threatening you. Formal expertise on the facts (or social positioning as "an expert") is often used to shut down everyone who's "not an expert" but who nevertheless may have some relevant information to share.

I think it takes a lot of social insight, self-confidence, external poise in one’s presentation skills, etc. to be able to frame the issue as: I want not to be threatened (and I don’t care what kind of gun it is). And to be heard.

I wrote a novel that speaks to this problem, so I think about it and suffer with it a lot.