Liberal Gun Rights advocates

[johnwilliamson062]

I was reading a post yesterday where someone accused another of being something like a 'gun grabbing liberal,' and I just wanted to post and point out that there are quite a few Liberal proponents of the second amendment.

One of my Liberal University instructors has an SKS he is quite proud of and is the president of a hunting and fishing club.
My sister, although a liberal vegetarian, has fired a few guns, invcluding SURs(somebody on here requested we use the term sport utility rifle and I like the idea), now a proponent (although she hates that I am 'planning to kill bambi this fall).
One of my roommates was all for universal health care, and welfare and farm aid and all those other social programs which drain the economy. He goes as far as saying that some of the restrictions on machine guns don' make sense (especially the post 1986 production ban).

Eliminating welfare, hunting with muzzle loaders, and private health care will not protect us from a tyrranical government, and will not guarantee that power is reserved in the hands of the people. Lets take allies where we can get them, and not alienate a second amendment ally over other political issues

 

[ringworm]

and they are all duck hunters...

 

[JWT]

Ringworm, I don't think the two duck hunters you showed are 'all they're quacked up to be".

 

[Citizen Carrier]

Liberal gun rights activists?

What have those two guys been doing lately?

 

[TimRB]

I live in one of the most liberal counties in California, and I have never (never!) met anyone who described himself/herself as a "liberal" (or Democrat or "progressive") who was also a strong Second Amendment supporter. Hell, if you ask her, even Dianne Feinstein will tell you she supports the Second Amendment.

Tim

 

[doug66]

Liberal Gun Rights advocates=guns are OK for us. Not OK for you.

 

[toybox99615]

lets face facts

the classification of liberal = anti gun is just another political bunch of foolishness. It makes for easy one liners and nothing more. Its the parallel of the stand up comedian clamming all gun owners wear funny red hats and need dental work. The reality is somewhere in the middle. I've never seen the NRA application ask for political affiliation nor have I seen them return a check from a Democrat.

The goal is to strengthen the numbers of 2nd amendment proponents.

 

[Recon7]

Liberal gun rights, They believe your gun has the right to remain silent and anything it "says" will be used against you in a court of law.

Seriously, Some people may say they are for gun rights, but it doesn't matter what they think. If they vote democrat, they are putting more gun grabbers in office.

 

[Playboypenguin]

What have those two guys been doing lately?

I think there are way more than two of us. I am socially very liberal (as well as economically conservative) and I know tons of other people just like me who support gun rights. In fact the two people I shoot with most are complete gun nuts and so far left they make me look like Dick Cheney.

A lot of people confuse "leftists" with "liberals." I think that is mainly because the only real knowledge they have of liberals comes from talk radio.

 

[JuanCarlos]

Liberal Gun Rights advocates=guns are OK for us. Not OK you.

Um, yeah no. Thanks, though.

Recon7 has it a little closer, in that a gun enthusiast who votes Democratic is more than likely putting more "gun grabbers" into office. The issue is that for at least some gun enthusiasts guns are not necessarily the only issue they vote on.

It's easy to vote Republican to "protect your gun rights" when you also happen to agree with them on all (or a majority) of the other issues as well. Harder to do when guns are one of the few issues that you can stomach them on.

If it's that hard to imagine somebody being fiscally or socially liberal but still believing in the second amendment, well that just makes me sad. Human beings are incredibly complicated creatures, and the different combination of political viewpoints that they can hold (even before you get into healthy doses of cognitive dissonance) is astounding. Heck, to some extent the primary purpose of the one-dimensional "left/right" political axis is to simplify things for those unable to comprehend just how complex politics really are. Even a two-dimensional spectrum is grossly oversimplified, but at least it comes significantly closer to reality...a one-dimensional spectrum is basically a square-peg/round-hole solution.

 

[astromanluca]

You guys are painting with too broad a brush. I agree with Democrats much more often than I agree with Republicans. And I agree that most Democrats (nearly all, in fact) have pretty questionable interpretations of the second amendment. They claim to support it and to want "reasonable" gun laws, but their definition of "reasonable," isn't.

However, I hope you're only talking about politicians and not about regular citizens like me. Like I said, I'm mostly liberal myself except on a few issues like gun control, where I am firmly with the conservatives.

It seems as though a lot of people here think that everyone who votes Democrat is:

- Smug, arrogant, and elitist
- Hates guns
- Thinks abortion is a wonderful thing
- Probably gay
- Hates all religious people
- Hates our armed forces
- An apologist for Muslim terrorists

But I could turn around just as easily and say that anyone who votes Republican is:

- A stupid, slack-jawed redneck
- Bigoted against gays and blacks
- Wants women to be subservient, not ambitious
- Wants to teach religion in schools
- Supports bombing every country that looks at us wrong
- A tinfoil hat-wearing lunatic who owns a whole armory because they're paranoid of the gubmint

Both of these assertions are totally wrong. People need to learn that not every single person fits into one horribly inaccurate stereotype or another.

 

[Recon7]

Not at all, you just vote the arrogant gay gun grabbing pro abortion anti jesus anti military apologists into office

 

[Playboypenguin]

Not at all, you just vote the arrogant gay gun grabbing pro abortion anti jesus anti military apologists into office

I am confused. Are you saing the politicians are gay or the guns are gay? They are called commas man.

 

[Buzzcook]

I think the liberal vs conservative frame on gun control is a false dichotomy.

Because both sides for whatever reason refuse to deal with the many underlying issues, of which gun violence is just one of the symptoms, they are left arguing over bandaids. We're left with the absurd spectacle of both sides saying an inanimate object has magical talismanic powers.

 

[Recon7]

oops I left the commas right here ,,,,,,

 

[fisherman66]

You are very correct John W. At one time I would have counted in that lot of #2A loving D. I'm still liberal in many of my leanings but I refuse to identify with either party as they have both failed in so many ways. There are times that I wonder if it is done intentionally.

 

[JWT]

Liberal vs. Conservative on gun control might be somewhat subjective. But, hard to see Obama as a advocate of anything except gun control (his voting record shows that). McCain, probably pro 2nd ammendment, Palin - dfinitely pro 2nd ammendment.

That being said one might just get the idea Conservatives are more pro second ammendment rights and Liberal are anti gun.

 

[fisherman66]

That being said one might just get the idea Conservatives are more pro second ammendment rights and Liberal are anti gun.

Generally speaking, sure.

The problem is few human beings pigeon hole easily when it comes to death penalty, Creationism/Darwinism, abortion, and view of "disinfranchised groups".

 

[Playboypenguin]

I do not think that many republican are any more pro-gun than most democrats. I think both sides just give lip service to different sides of the issue to mobilize their base of support. I never see republicans give that much opposition to gun laws nor do I see then repealing them when they are in power. I also do not see them passing many pro-gun laws of their own creation that have any real teeth.

I think it is all about theater and neither side truly wants to see an armed population. At least not the career politicians.

You have to look at each individual candidate and see how they fair as an individual because I think party affiliation is meaningless at this point. I also think it helps to try and elect non-career/non-legacy politicians.

It gets so hard though because every time I find someone that truly appears pro-gun they make statements like "The iraq war is a task given to us by god" or some other crazy thing and ruin it. Aren't there pro-gun non-crazies out there? I think the biggest problem is the non-crazies do not run for public office.

 

[Webleymkv]

I think there are way more than two of us. I am very liberal (as well as socially conservative) and I know tons of other people just like me who support gun rights.

I'm a bit confused by this statement? Are you trying to say that you're by and large fiscally liberal (support welfare, govt healthcare, etc.) but by and large socially conservative (oppose abortion, gun control, affirmative action, etc)? If that's the case, you'd be what I consider a moderate overall. Obviously no one is going to agree with their chosen party on every issue. I, for example, consider myself to be conservative because I oppose abortion, affirmative action, gun control, etc. However, I differ on one key issue with many other conservatives (particularly evangelicals) and that is Gay Marriage. While I do consider myself to be a Christian and my chosen religeon is pretty clear about homosexuality, I think that this particular issue is between an individual, his/her partner, and whatever God they choose to pray to (if any) and that individuals who pursue that lifestyle shouldn't be prohibited the same legal rights that I am as a heterosexual. I suppose that would make me a pro-Gay conservative. I'd be willing to bet that every one of us, if we think hard enough, could come up with some key issue that we disagree on with the party we typically vote with.