And I hope they shoot and kill each other on sight. In my house, hilarity will ensue as long as the shooting is far enough away, and I can watch it on local news for entertainment value.

Release the Kraken!!!!!

As long as they can own and brandish as many guns as they want, that's all that matters to them. Just be thankful they don't shoot you under the bullshit guise of "stand your ground" or some other lie they propagate to justify murder.

Shaking my head...

The so-called responsible gun owners, assuming they aren't mythical like a unicorn or minotaur, lost a voice in the discussion by permitting the nutters' to get away with crap like open carry, stand your ground, unpunished vigilantism, guns on school grounds and whatever common sense defying laws and proposals they have shoved down our throats over the years. These alleged people made up their minds years ago where they stand on the gun issue - and that side is clearly not the one that values liberty and safety for their fellow Americans. They will not receive any respect from me.

Yes, we exist...and yes, some of us even work for reasonable, potentially effective additional gun regulation. I'm one of them (worked on the effort to pass universal background checks here in Oregon).

Moreover, if you think we're somehow responsible for what the LaPierre types have done because we "permitted the nutters to get away with crap," do you also blame all Muslims for Daesh? Somehow I doubt that (and you'd be right to reject that collective-guilt bullshit: it's a loathsome and irrational view). Why is it okay to broadbrush us and not them?

Let me pull the scope of this discussion back to just DU for a sec. One reason you might see gun owners like me avoid most of the gun "discussion" (I hate abusing the term by misusing it, thus the quotation marks) here in GD is because of posts like the one you made: not only is it obviously pointless to attempt a reasoned discussion if the face of that kind of seething hatred and insult, it also gets us pissed off, too. The natural human reaction to that kind of abuse is likely to be some variation of "go fuck yourself."

And every single fucking gun thread in GD is filled with that kind of shit. I get frustrated and just start trashing gun threads...and do my real, substantive discussion of the topic elsewhere.

There is no differentiation when it comes to gun owners. All get lumped together the same as R's do to Muslims. Collective guilt with a double helping of "you can't trust any of them"

Like you I have worked for good, reasonable gun regulations; specifically removing guns from DV offenders and those under an RO. I have proposed, many times, adding to background checks, safe storage and more.

Yet none of that matters. I'm just another potential murderer who hasn't snapped yet. My wish to reduce all forms of violence is a "distraction"

The only reason I still work for gun control is because it is the right thing to do. It sure isn't due to any support from anti-gun zealots. Their hatred of guns means the would find humor and entertainment in watching me get shot to death, per the first reply above. Sadly that isn't a unique position but has often been put forth by those against gun violence.

I read that first reply, too. It pains me no end to see that kind of post here, from (purported) progressives. I like to think that we're genuinely better than the RW, that it's not just "pick your flavor" with no true moral differentiation between sides. And I'm not giving up on that hope, since I recognize that posts like that don't represent the majority of people who seek greater levels of gun control. But they sure are thick as flies on shit here any more...

It saddens me even more to think that some of the folk doing the hating don't even realize what they're doing, what they look like.

Even the allegedly reasonable gun supporters here at DU oppose UBCs and registration and some would rather go out blazing than have their guns taken away (paraphrased words from a DUer this past weekend). These are supposed to be the good gun supporters and their own words/positions make them indistinguishable from the extremists.

I don't want my family, friends and my fellow Americans to worry about gun violence simply because they need to run errands or go to school or enjoy a simple evening at church or at the movies. This is simply no longer possible because the gunners have chosen their guns over human life. They have made the choice that their unquestioned right to own a thousand guns and endanger the lives of everyone around them is more important than my right to live and breathe. No sane American - and especially no DUer - should ever make such a despicable choice.

You can claim you are pursuing what is just and sensible; but your voices are being drowned out by the extremists who clearly have the upper hand and who are dictating behavior, policy and laws. Not only that but when it comes right down to it, you ultimately side with the pro-2A people. We're at an impasse because in my view, we need to repeal that outdated amendment and replace it with one that enacts bans and confiscations. Too many lives have been lost because guns. It is simply morally unconscionable to support gun ownership/possession any longer.

I'm beginning to suspect that you don't really read replies. At least not very carefully...given that I just quite clearly mentioned working on the campaign to get UBCs here in Oregon (you ever do anything for gun control besides insult gun owners on an internet forum...? Hmmm...?).

Bullshit. Unless someone has no grasp of basic mathematics, they should understand that have no rational reason for such crippling fear. Gun violence has been decreasing for decades, and the chance of the average american of becoming a victim thereof is quite low. Higher than it should be and there's still work to do...but being afraid to go outside because of gun violence is absurd (unless you live in one of a handful of truly fucked-up locales). It's irrational.



That is not only a planted axiom/straw man fallacy, it's hyperbolic in the extreme. Do you really not see that shit like that is why so many gun owners have no interest in dialog with the pro-control faction? I support numerous gun controls because I believe they are useful and don't violate the constitution...but in the face of that kind of insult and overblown rhetoric, I have to admit it's tempting to say "fuck it" and stop trying. It's not like those bans and confiscations you want are ever going to happen. But I'm not that selfish, so I'll keep helping. As in actively helping bring them about.

Helping: try it some time.

Otherwise, I can rent a firearm at my local range any time I want to target practice.

But, in light of recent political trends, I predict Trump will be elected.

The right has plenty of followers. If he comes to power, it won't be because he seized it, this nation will hand it to him willingly.

An unsettling thought.

...if Trump does likewise, it will be little comfort to us...

You will find that most gun nuts have problems leaving their homes, much less patrolling the streets.

Gun fetishism is a mental issue.

n/t

Statistically they are far more likely to blow them away than me.