Same here. And also because I'm disgusted by how terrible most gun owners are too. Most are idiots. They don't follow the basic rules of safety and I'd love for them to be forced to sit through a few fucking classes. Ugh. Going to a gun store is usually a terrible ordeal because I get scared that half of those idiots will be walking out with a deadly weapon.
Problem being, reasonable gun-owners lack the stridency and volume of the irresponsible. Rather than reasonable people convening on both sides, you have the extremities arguing crosswise at each other. Sure, it's a "duh" statement but hugely descriptive of American politics.
As an aside, it's things like this:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2012/12/09/joseph_loughrey_shoots_kills_son_outside_gun_store.html...couched in mealy language, i.e. "accidentally," that upset me. My puckered anus, "accidentally." It was obviously not his intention to harm his son but it wasn't an act without volition. The father claims that when placing the gun into the center console of his car, it discharged. It's inept, thoughtless handling of a firearm, due to an avoidable carelessness with a weapon.
My uncle lives in TX (like you), owns an arsenal of guns, huge advocate of gun-ownership, Republican to the core, life-long NRA member, yadda-yadda-yadda, funny, caring guy, who I admire greatly. The above incident angered him to no end. We disagree about the availability and access to guns (let alone the politics), by degree. But we don't disagree that
responsible gun ownership isn't the problem needing amelioration. Getting to a better notion of what "responsible" looks like should be a priority of both sides, while marginalizing those holding positions on either extreme of gun ownership.
But fuck me if 20-something white malcontents don't seem to be getting scarier and more lethal. Get laid, honkies.
