I'm all for gun rights. If guns and ammunition weren't so damned expensive, I'd probably own several. I also recognize that gun ownership is not just a right but also a big responsibility. Guns are not toys, and someone who is going to own them needs to approach them seriously, learn how to use them, keep them secure, etc. Still, I generally believe that people should have a right to their guns. The only time I tend to second guess this stance is when I see crowds of poorly educated, paranoid, and generally angry rednecks screaming about imaginary plots to disarm them. If anything could make me question my commitment to gun rights, hordes of armed and angry rednecks will do it.

I have known more than a few progressive gun owners who feel the same way. One recently summed it up perfectly by saying, "I'm content to let them keep their guns as long as they aren't threatening to shoot me." What the political right has not seemed to realize yet is that nothing will make liberals want to pass more restrictive gun laws faster than hordes of armed rednecks threatening them.

Anyone who is truly interested in preserving current gun rights and avoiding gun control legislation should be working to quash the growing militia movement. Just because the Obama administration has shown little interest in gun control legislation so far does not mean that this would not change the moment some militia or other horde of armed rednecks decided to shoot a bunch of people.

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