I meant to type this months ago, but better late than never.
I have complicated views on guns.
On one hand, it's clear that America has a toxic gun culture which leads to more murders, more mass shootings, more accidental shootings, and more suicides than it otherwise would, and by a large margin. In many cases this gun culture becomes a gun cult, a fanatical obsession with firearms at the expense of public safety.
On the other hand, the genie is out of the bottle. We can't eliminate the gun culture that has metastatized here. Its roots are too deep. Too many of its proponents would become too violent, and there are too many guns to eliminate. Too many voters care about guns above all other issues.
And just as importantly, the violent cult of American conservatism won't be deterred by pleas or laws. American conservatism has steadily grown more radical until, by now, conservatives hate their opponents so intensely that they'd either celebrate if someone killed them, or they'd do it themselves. The police are firmly a part of the conservative cult and show this through favoritism and violence; they cannot in any way be trusted to protect people from massacres by right-wing militias that have spread across the country. The conservative political machine is firmly in favor of violence; William Barr, Trump, and others celebrated Kyle Rittenhouse's murders, and Trump declared that the killing of a man who shot a "Patriot Prayer" member at a rally was not defense, but "retribution." The conservative media machine celebrated Rittenhouse as a hero and a saint. Right-wing violence, over the course of about a decade, has gone from largely the fringe of conservatism to its defining essence.
This means that a huge portion of the population, backed by the Justice Department, the White House, a massive media machine, a majority of Senators, and most if not all police departments either accept or encourage violence against their political opponents as a legitimate tool. Peaceful transfers of power will become a thing of the past before long.
Even if Trump inexplicably loses, he'll do everything in his power to contest the election. Police departments, militias, a media machine, most Senators, and most importantly, tens of millions of Americans will likely back him. Right-wing militias will rally and threaten opponents and rule of law with the approval and support of police departments. Even if Biden inexplicably takes the oath of office, the stage is set for a massive armed insurgency composed of people convinced that the country is rightfully theirs and was stolen from them. This insurgency will target known or assumed opponents of conservatism for intimidation and murder.
To that end, we need some immediate changes.
First, the Democratic Party must immediately drop its "anti-gun" stances, real or perceived. Assault weapon bans and other restrictions achieve nothing at all but earning the enmity of single-issue gun voters. Many of them would likely not vote for a Republican if they believed their gun ownership wouldn't be restricted by Democrats. It's too much to say that this would swing elections in Democrats' favor, but every bit helps. And people in favor of gun control probably won't sit out an election because of this.
Second, there's an urgent need for a nationwide civic organization dedicated to armed defense against right-wing terrorist attacks, as the police will never accept this task. As is, the American left, liberals, and minorities are practically defenseless against right-wing terrorism. Members of this organization would train together in shooting, drill, communications, first aid, and more, preferably with the help of ex-military members. It wouldn't be intended to overthrow any government; just for community defense. There's little new about this; America's many militias have been doing this for decades. It's entirely legal and very widespread. What's different is that it would mark the recognition of the new American political reality where the police openly side with violent extremists and can't be relied upon to defend us. And since the police won't protect us, we are now defenseless, unless we choose to defend ourselves. Organization without armament falls apart the moment violence is used against it. Armament without organization leads to a million scared people clutching guns, alone, at home, too scattered, confused, and untrained to know what's happening or what to do.
The radical option now isn't mass armament; it's mass complacency at a time where we know what the threats are, that they're growing daily, and that the old defenses, checks, and balances have all failed.
I never wanted the whole country to be frightened, angry, and armed in a permanent Mexican standoff. But it's extremely obvious by now that the alternative is for the whole country to be ruled by a brazenly violent and oppressive minority with nothing to lose and nothing to fear.
... plus its a Gabby Giffords website, so it seems obvious that they are in favor of more restrictions on people being able to obtain firearms.
