I am not a gun person. But for the gun persons, how about you speak out?

[JohnnyRingo]

25. I'm caught in the middle.

I'm called a murderer and a nut here for owning a couple pistols, but I have a few friends who take their guns way too seriously and had to run out and get CCW permits after the last election. Those people call me a liberal nut who wants to take their rights away because I supported Obama and other (gun grabbing) democratic candidates.

I've had endless arguments with them over the recent years about how these weekend warriors will be more likely to hurt an innocent, than protect themselves or others. I've begged them if someone tries to rob them to please not go for their gun, but indeed offer the gun to the robber as well. I have to point out that owning a gun doesn't make them James Bond, after all.

Now I come to DU and see endless headlines telling me I'm in the same boat as my gun fetish friends and that I should be banned forever from this site because I lived a long life around firearms.

These are the same people here who condemned others for overreacting after 9/11, for demanding a purge of anyone who had a middle east accent. The good DUers called for the govt to stop writing special laws and regulations that took away the rights of everyone because of what a few might do, but when it dovetails with their personal beliefs, they demand blanket legislation. They want my 100 year old Colt turned into slag and used to make Smart Cars because they foresee a utopian Nerf World where they'll finally be safe from the likes of me.

A lot of good blue collar democrats hunt and own guns, and if the Democratic Party (and DU) wants to shun them and push them over to the GOP, they'll make the same over-opinionated mistake the republicans (and Freeps) did when they pushed out pro-choice and fair tax moderates.

Like so many, I believe in stronger gun regulation, not an outright pipe dream ban that would be impossible to implement. I wouldn't mind seeing an end to flea market sales and increasing the level of background checks. I bought all my guns legally through registered gun dealers and even went through a five day waiting period for one. I didn't feel my rights were abridged by such regulations, but now I'm nothing but a sicko waiting for the right moment to commit mass murder according to far too many on my favorite website where I used to find camaraderie.