Anecdotal: I used to be afraid of guns (and also subscribe to the political spectrum that was afraid of guns), but frequent exposure to guns has changed this. I don't think having a healthy respect for something so dangerous is bad at all, but my brain used to just shut down at the word "gun" and I couldn't be at all neutral about it. Now I think they're kind of cool. If you are working at all on desensitizing your phobia, that might be an interesting post (although I realize this series is officially complete).