Trans people should arm the fuck up. Getting mispronouned might sting but no one is going to really fuck with you when you're packing. (Pun intended, my trans bros.)
It's funny how our casual collective nouns tend to be originally masculine, though. Dudes, guys, bros... The only feminine one that comes to mind is "bitches" but I'd be pretty careful about what group I say "wassup, bitches!" to.
Aah that shouldn’t be a problem for the gays, what with all the PRIDE stuff they’ve been selling. They’re all millionaire businessgays, slinging armalite street sweepers!
Inspired by a Salon.com article by Jonathan Rauch,^([2]) Krikket (aka Doug Krick), a libertarian activist from Illinois living in Massachusetts, founded the Pink Pistols in July 2000. The organization had at least 45 chapters as of October 2014.^([1]) Those chapters are located in 33 states and three countries that are principally made up of gun-owning LGBTQ individuals, though neither status is mandatory for membership.^([3])
Stonewall Shooting Sports of Utah is a group of gun rightsadvocates in Utah. It supports the Pink Pistols' idea that was described nationally in 2000 by writerJonathan Rauch for the legal, responsible and safe use of weapons for their self defense, recreation and shooting sports. Hundreds of supporters including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) have joined the group since 2002 when it was founded by Utah gay activist David Nelson.^([1])^([2])
110%, and those who are better off might want to have a few extras in case they ever need to be handed out.
Guns and ammunition are not cheap, and apartment complexes sometimes have rules forbidding guns. If shit goes south, then those who have s bit of extra wealth right now might want to invest in being able to arm a few allies in the future .
I hope it does not come to that, but the possibility seems to be slowly growing in likely hood.
The sale and distribution of arms to minority groups (such as the LGBTQ+) is an interesting idea. But there’s something so… difficult to put my finger on about your comment. This is not the first time I have teared up thinking about the situation in the USA.
And I’m not from there, nor do I have family or anything from there - just one American internet friend who is currently deployed elsewhere. But it’s so harrowing to think about. And when I remember this is just normal for you guys now, it’s even sadder.
If I were religious, I’d be saying a daily prayer for you guys. Put through the wringer all because half of your country got sucked into a cult that was engineered by the powers that be to prey on the lower class, when instead they desperately needed class consciousness. But as always when commenting on this, I want to remind you that truth will prevail over loyalty. It’s not you against them. It’s them against the rest of you.
No citizen actually owns "machine guns", machine guns are extremely heavy, they are also automatic weapons. Do you know many men that could run around with a 50+ pound weapon. Submachine guns are for close quarters, most used weapons are pistols and assault rifles. Good luck getting the machine guns.
I'm a hippy dippy vegetarian soy beta and I'm taking a CCW class this month and getting a gun soon. Granted, I grew up in the country with guns but still I'm not your right wing redneck.
Oh, I know. I have experience shooting and will get plenty more continuous range time. Thanks. It's something I take incredibly seriously and not at all flippantly.
As a longtime gun owner and CCW permit holder, I'm glad we can finally put the lefts ridiculous rhetoric regarding guns behind us. See how stupid that was all along?
The rest of the world? Of course you'd think the healthy, happy, stable countries suck while the authoritarian shitholes like Russia, North Korea, and the USA were somehow good by comparison.
It's like thinking apallachian-oil-barrel-moonshine was better than quality professionally-brewed bourbon.
It's not. It just does more to help you weird-assed little snowflakes cope.
Honestly, this is my opinion, too. Sadly, the stupid ones being the primary backers of 2A has just made public opinion worse. Add on the belief said idiots hold that it's all-encompassing and absolute for them and non-existent for us, and their utter failure to use it for anything productive, and instead use it to be destructive, and you got a perfect storm of counterpoints against the 2A.
They certainly haven't used it for the maintenance of a free state. Many have done the opposite.
I’ve always supported gun rights, to an extent. So idk who you’re referring to.
And the limits I think should be placed on gun ownership have not changed now that more people on my side of the aisle are considering purchasing a firearm.
Seems like you’re just building strawmen. The left has never collectively argued that all guns should be illegal for all citizens.
You just fell for all the “they’re gunna take yer guns!!!” propaganda. Congrats.
How are you using your 2A right to protect your neighbors from being abducted by masked men? What about the FBI and DHS saying you can't have a gun in public and not expect to be shot by an agent? I see lots of nothing from the right so far.
No. The liberals are still right wing. There's no major left-wing party in the US, just a near right party - Democrats - and a far-right fascist party - "Republicans".
The only true left we have is primarily independents. They often "join" the Democrats for the same reason voters do - keeping the fascists out of office. Essentially, they're the lesser of two evils.
A goose that quacks like a duck is still a goose. Just a goose with a misleading message.
That's because the brilliant voting system in the US basically forces them to vote for the Democrats, despite realising those don't really represent their interests.
The real hurdle is going to be getting establishment dem politicians on the wagon, while the rest of us on the ground see the value of the 2A - policy makers are still pushing for laws in the other direction.... I'm hopeful for change but also prepared to be disappointed just like what happened with healthcare reform
"You bring a gun into the district, you mark my words, you’re going to jail. I don't care if you have a license in another district and I don’t care if you're a law-abiding gun owner somewhere else. You bring a gun into this district, count on going to jail and hope you get the gun back." Jeanine Pirro
You'd be giving them the last thing they needed. A reason. Justification. Because some morons are going to do something stupid with those guns and an actual battle is what they really wanted this entire time. Make no mistake, they win any battle that involves guns. The way you beat them is at the ballot box.
They don’t need a justification. They don’t care. If they don’t have one, they’ll just make one up anyway.
What you’re doing by refusing to get armed out of fear of what they will do in response is complying in advance with fascism.
> and an actual battle is what they really wanted this entire time.
No. They say they do, but what they actually want is to have you so cowed and disarmed they can abuse you without you doing anything to stop or hinder them.
oh come on. If voting was a solution, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.
at this point, I assume anyone in 2026 saying "c'mon guys, don't give them pretext, just sit back and wait for your turn to vote" is a bot or part of a psyop.
on the off chance that you're real: grow up and do better
This is a bad take. Using a firearm is so simple a child could do it. Battles are won on planning and financial support. Assuming all battles are already lost is so defeatist that I have to assume you are in bad faith.
LOL. "beat them at the ballot box" is hilarious when we haven't had an honestly run election in 18 years and it's clear the entire ruling class is in 100% lock step solidarity while keeping Americans so evenly split that they can just keep forcing worse and worse choices on us.
Yeah, citizens lose in an open battle of fixed positions but it's been shown constantly that no amount of overwhelming force can truly conquer a guerilla movement. At the very least when they come bashing down doors to take away dissenters we can exact a cost to them for it rather than languishing in camps to be killed slowly.
There are four boxes of liberty. They are, in order, as follows:
Soap
Ballot
Jury
Cartridge
If you haven't noticed, people are being beaten, arrested, blinded and murdered for executing their first amendment rights
There are some nefarious machinations with elections. If the GOP isn't fully tampering voter suppression is very, very real (there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in Texas)
SCOTUS is bought and owned by the oligarchs and the executive branch is completely disregarding judicial orders
You tell me where we're at and why in the hell are you complying in advance? Jesus. Look around and pay attention
The justification to do what exactly? They're already occupying cities, carrying out summary executions of people in the street, disappearing entire families....what else would they be needing justification for that isn't already happening?
same but I bought mine back in 2016 when the electoral college put this clown car in power for the first time and I understood that we were completely off the rails and if something serious happened to this country I was on my own.
two shotguns a half a pallet of medical supplies and canned food served me very well during COVID although thankfully I didn't need the shotguns.
In 2024, a spilled seltzer at a toddler’s birthday party revealed a secret hidden in Slate writer Christina Cauterucci’s coffee table: a padlocked Smith & Wesson 9 mm. At the time, it was a forgotten prop from a half-finished reporting assignment, from a big-city writer who’d never touched a gun. But as Trump’s second term cast a dark shadow over America—spiking hate crimes against queer and trans people like her—her weapon became something else entirely: a grim insurance policy she wondered if she’d actually have to use. Repulsed by the possibility but eager to protect herself and her loved ones, Cauterucci did the one thing she never could have imagined she’d have to do: learn to shoot her gun, and learn to shoot it well.
Through head-turning scenes at the gun range and profoundly revealing conversations with other queer gun owners, Cauterucci considers whether the fantasy of a ready combatant is really just a seductive substitute for a fading sense of state protection. Is her gun a security blanket, or a provocation that invites the very violence she fears?
Exactly. But people in the government already know that the guns aren't ever going to be used against them in any meaningful way. If they did, they would not let you have them. And as far as the constitution, they don't care, it is meaningless at this point. This whole thing was always a gentleman's agreement, the guys in now just have a well documented history of not honoring agreements. The moment they think someone might be putting together "a well regulated militia" that is counter to the ideology they'd prefer it'd be, they will start seizing firearms.
Sure, if those people are better armed or better trained than the US military. I don't think there is a single nation in the world that could take on the US on its home turf, so I don't think that it'll matter if you are armed or not.
I’ve been thinking about this and I think it depends on your idea of winning. I don’t think we won Iraq or Afghanistan. We destroyed millions of lives and left generational wounds, but we didn’t “win.” We also haven’t fought on home turf since the Civil War.
I don’t think a glorious Leninist revolution is coming. I also don’t think Americans are willing en masse to resist the way fighters like the Viet Cong did. I don’t feel any confidence other countries would aid US civilians resisting the US military. But I also think a war on home turf is undesirable to the US government for a lot of reasons and we should think about that when we consider the playing field. Is the US Army willing to drone strike Ohio? Maybe! There’s a lot of damage an armed populace could do before being ultimately suppressed. It would be terrible for everyone, but I’m not willing to discount it as a potential future.
Yeah, there is no need for a "war" on the side of the government, they can just suppress any uprising as it happens, just like they currently do. And yeah, I don't see Americans getting organized en masse to form a fighting force, and the instant the feds catch wind of that it is getting shut down. There's a lot of people online hollering about Live Free or Die while they are eating free pizza at Planet Fitness, you know? A revolution by fire power isn't happening, and a defense via fire power isn't happening either. It's got to be via infiltrating the system like Trump did. Come in and take over a major party. The problem is we need someone who wants to do away with money being the driving factor behind everything, because that's what's fucking everything up. That's how Trump got the GOP behind him after he took over their party, he's making them all rich. I'm not sure how you take over without it being about money.
Unfortunately he is anti-trans, which I believe is a political position that can be maintained on either side of the political spectrum. It’s just that it’s a controversial issue that has led many to political homelessness, and led the rest of the people who believe it to the right. This is because many of those politically homeless people are still by every other measure left wing, but often they don’t feel comfortable voting for the Democrats because they are pro-trans. Either way, the belief that trangenderism is an ideology that promotes harm leads people to be at least perceived as centrist to right wing.
For Elon, his child coming out as trans may have been the final straw given his beliefs regarding apartheid. Now he’s a right-wing nut job who bankrolls the political party he feels will better represent his interests. And I’m not sure that you could convince him to go back on any of that, because he is surrounded by these goons 24/7.
Find another billionaire. That’s the problem with billionaires, they are greedy and selfish assholes. And that is why they’re all Republican. The real answer to finding someone who will bankroll the Democrats is likely to be too specific and nuanced for anyone on Reddit to reasonably predict what will happen next at this point in time. But it’s my uneducated Aussie opinion that they’d only need to run a mid-40s or 50s white male candidate who isn’t too extreme. A moderate. They’d win by a landslide.
They could win, but they wouldn't have the support of the other people in the party like trump did. They all bend over for him because he's making them rich. But if that's the problem you want to fix, it'll be hard to get support, because the Democrat leadership are also motivated by maintaining the current arrangements that allowed them to also become fantastically wealthy. None of top in either party are interested in limiting their own power or influence or sources of income.
Speaking as a gender non-conforming American, the mainstream Democrats really aren’t the trans radicals they get portrayed as. There are some that are out there, but the core Dem position is anti-bathroom bills and pro-protecting gender identity in discrimination laws but fine with limiting trans people in sports and gender care for minors. I’m actually very frustrated with how much the Democrats let the right wing set the talking points for this topic. They need to reclaim the narrative of “personal freedom from unreasonable search” and “adults making medical choices without interference from government.” They’ve let the moral panic from the MAGA outrage machine totally drive the conversation.
I also think the right wing has become more virulently anti-trans than they used to be, because people realized it was a wedge issue and/or something to engagement farm. Not that evangelical Christians were ever particularly accepting, but they didn’t constantly interject “but you believe men can be women” into every conversation. It’s a fixation because it feels like you can easily write off your opponent as crazy and not worth listening to. (This is not an exclusively right wing behavior, but the “you think men should be in little girls locker rooms” thing is a RW special.)
American politics just all feels so stupid these days. Everything is vibes. No one wants to fact check or refer to actual data. Everything is about how you feel, and fuck the facts. I’m a bit of a doomer at this point—something big and bad is going to have to happen to shake us off the road we’re on. There’s no way we just elect Shapiro and things go back to normal.
People are foolish if they think they could shoot at any member of the federal government and still be alive after. The 2nd amendment and the right to bear arms is something they continue allow in order to keep people scared of each other, because it is useful for political campaigns if you can keep your voter base scared of your opponent's voter base. The guns will only ever get used on literally anyone except the oppressive government. The revolution must be by infiltrating the power structure of the system, and that is way more difficult than pulling a trigger. Trump did it to the Republicans. Total take over of a party he wasn't even a member of. The Democrats shut Bernie down when he tried to take over a party he wasn't a member of, but the folks in charge there prefer Trump over Bernie anyway, they have the same goals.
Neat, let me know how that works out when they have weapons that work through walls and completely disable your body and make you feel like your head is going to explode and like you are going to shit your pants instantaneously.
The US military has a bad track record of controlling local populations who oppose them. Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam are a few examples. Add to the the fact that a significant portion of the US military would either side with the opposition, or at least refuse an illegal order to confiscate firearms without due process, and it’s not nearly as simple as you seem to envision.
Can they though? Like, didn't we just get out of a 20 year engagement where the people who we kicked out of the country and tried to kill for 20 years immediately used their guns to reclaim power?
I can't think of any examples of us seizing firearms from established countries in a meaningful way. We can obviously kill particular people with impunity and destroy infrastructure, but when have we ever successfully taken down an armed population?
Conservatives don't have the only claim on guns and given the times we live in, progressives should protect themselves. During the Civil Rights Movement, Black people started arming themselves because non-violence wasn't the only solution, especially for a people that were constantly met with violence. It makes those looking to inflict pain to consider if it's worth their lives.
However...I'm not buying a gun and likely never will. I don't want to live in a country where owning a gun is the only way to live. I don't want to feel like I need that gun to protect myself. I don't want to die, but I also don't want to exist in a world where those things are true. At some point, if we want a world with less weapons, we have to be willing to put them down ourselves. I know that's hippy-dippy bullshit, but I don't care.
As much as I think Malcolm X and Magneto were right, that's not where my heart is.
I'd go further - the headline in the link is not supported by the article AT ALL.
The article is about the author and other LGBTQ people owning and practicing with firearms. The author interviews a variety of people in left-leaning gun groups as well as friends who have bought firearms. The couple of shooting instructors who are likely pro-Trump seem happy enough to train anyone.
I've read the article a couple of times, and at no point does the journalist get a comment from conservatives or quotes by conservatives opposing LGBTQ gun ownership.
I'm not criticising the article - it's fine. However, the editors at Slate give it a title designed to attract click-throughs.
You're correct here. I mean, we do have evidence of what the writer said. I'm in Ohio and our Republican governor said not to bring guns to protests. A few politicians in Washington have also talked about not carrying guns. And all that is because they see gun ownership from the left as a threat. What happens if progressives acted like conservatives when it comes to guns? Different story. It's odd the writer didn't interview those politicians and challenge them on it.
> uring the Civil Rights Movement, Black people started arming themselves because non-violence wasn't the only solution, especially for a people that were constantly met with violence.
And guess where California's restrictive gun laws came from? Reagan and the NRA teaming up to stop those black people.
I feel torn as well. We shouldn't have to own them, and giving in on that feels like giving up. I have three young kids and I know that gun accidents can't happen if there aren't any guns in the house. I'm also up to my eyeballs in bills and the daily 3-kid grind, so idk where I'd even get the time and money to buy one and train!
This is the crux of why I think, if we were going to modernize the 2nd Amendment, it should enshrine a right to self-defend alongside the right not to self-defend.
People should have equitable access to firearms with which to practice meaningful self-defense, but at the same time society needs to be obligated legally to provide for the material conditions that make it a choice, and not an obligation, to own firearms.
And as a consequence, it provides us a legal framework to lay down a hard line in the proverbial sand on what does and doesn't qualify as being meaningful for self-defense (and when other factors supersede that right), and whether or not we do this democratically or technocratically, it'd work to ensure everyone reaches a mutual understanding.
Problem is of course that when I bring this up to certain people, it doesn't fly because its neither anti-gun nor anti-regulation (but is pro-gun, ironically), which is the crux of why the issue is so polarized and goes no where in America, as the most vocal on either side are absolutists who won't entertain ceding any ground to the other side, even mutually.
You are well within your rights to make the decision. Regardless of your opinions on gun ownership regulations in the US, they are deadly weapons that require extensive training and - if stored and used improperly- could pose a danger to the owner and their loved ones.
It’s pretty similar to driving an automobile - if you don’t feel that you could competently shoot a gun, or dedicate yourself to the time/training required to competently shoot a gun, it’s best that you don’t own a gun.
I don’t have the same ideological qualms about gun ownership, but I fully support people knowing themselves and saying “this isn’t for me.”
The Slate article states that the ICE officer said, “fucking lesbian bitch” after shooting Renee Good. The video from that shooting does not have the word “lesbian”. The officer said, “fucking bitch”.
Why would the Slate article add the word and change the quote?
“Another protester, who identified themself as a former U.S. Marine, claimed in an interview posted on X that federal officers had mocked Good while violently arresting them. “They said, ‘Have you not learned? This is why we killed that lesbian bitch!’” the protester said.”
That’s a protester’s unverified claim, but it’s a different encounter. Slate didn’t add a word to the quote you’re thinking of.
As an outsider to the USA, I have a question. So far, in my 53 years of life, all I've ever seen the 2A do is end in the death of children, and feed the hero fantasy of every carry/CC person in the country.
Is there a point where the chest-thumping stops and the change begins? Like, since the 'right' has been creating beer-league militias for decades and they've done nothing...what will a bunch of 'left' weekend cosplayers do? Nothing + nothing = something?
Nope, they all (and I mean genuinely all of them) genuinely believe all of that shit
Literally almost every other country on earth (whether extremely authoritarian or more free and democratic than the US will ever be) has come to the conclusion that lots of murder weapons in civilian hands are generally a bad idea
Though police have resisted on pushing armed protestors to violence in the past.
The Bundy jackasses proved that. They waited them out. Thought it's just as likely that police don't really want to enforce laws against conservatives.
For the left, it's not really about seriously thinking that we can change society or fight off the army.
It's more about the fear of a right wing lynch mob showing up and not being able to trust the police to protect you. And sure, even then we probably realistically won't win, but it'll feel better to go down fighting.
Guns are used to stop crimes like burglary, rape and assault THOUSANDS of times a year.
By some estimates its much larger than that.
An anti-gun organization did the math and came up with
"According to the survey, firearms were used defensively in 166,900 nonfatal violent crimes between 2014 and 2018, which works out to an average of 33,380 per year. Over the same period, defensive gun use was reported in 183,300 property crimes, or an average of 36,660 per year.
Taken together, that’s 70,040 instances of defensive gun use per year."
I think maybe before posting an ignorant and shallow comment, show us you actually have a brain and research a subject before commenting ?
Can you prove that a firearm was NEEDED in order to ensure non-fatal or positive results, in any of those? Pulling a gun during a crime does not mean it's REQUIRED, just that it happened. Statistics from other countries can demonstrate defense without firearms during criminal acts.
Unless you're saying the 'Greatest Country in the World' with the most 'Freedom' requires firearms in order to benefit from the 'freedom' due to the crime being so much more violent and prevalent than anywhere else in the world...
Yes, we can, because the police don't respond to every crime in every location somewhat equitably like they do in other countries. I could call 911 right where I am after the sun is down and nothing would happen. If you're elderly or disabled especially you need a gun to protect yourself if you live here, full stop.
I'm sorry partner but it's not quite the gotcha you think it is when you link something from 60 years ago, like anyone rational would pretend racism didn't exist in the 1960s
My father would have been 2 years old when this happened, this is like holding me accountable for Swedish neutrality in WW2
Every 2A fan it I've ever talked to, including myself, about who should own guns has said something along the lines of "everyone that isn't a felon, especially women and people with physical disabilities." There have been a couple that don't want people with mental issues owning guns, but these are also the people who think all schizophrenics are violent. Many of them have said it is irresponsible of people who are victims of bigotry or who are more likely to be assaulted in some way to not have a ccw.
I have seen so many headlines like this one. I live in Utah, I have talked to hundreds of people about this, and none of them have said anything along the lines of "only people like me should have guns". There are some people I've talked to that think only people who can pass a very in depth background check should be able to (which ironically draws some class and race lines lol), or that nobody should be able to, but I haven't talked to anyone that has put a qualification along class lines, race, religion, creed, sexuality, gender, or physical ability on owning firearms.
My God it would be hilarious if the left started proudly using their constitutional rights to bear arms and become proficient at them. I'm one of them, r/liberalgunowners is full of them but the left needs to stop shying away from this. Take their one "alpha male" token of identity that they hold so dear to them and make it yours, it's quite fun.
Fun fact: California's strict gun control laws started when Governor Ronald Reagan signed the conservative- and NRA-supported Mulford Act (which banned openly carrying loaded firearms). It was in response to the Black Panther Party having armed observers monitor police stops, and unlike most state laws it went into effect immediately rather than the following January 1st.
EDIT: The bill was introduced a month before the Black Panthers showed up to the state capitol building—armed—and interrupted a legislative session. The urgency clause which set the effective date was added afterwards. Governor Reagan was later quoted as saying that there was "no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons".
As a far-Left person whose always chuckled at the "get rid of all guns" centrist/center-left Liberals, I was thinking the same thing. A lot of people in this country only see Conservative and Liberal, and are in for a big shock when they find out the gun-believes of the actual "left".
I don’t get why she won’t just keep ammo at home. You don’t have to keep your guns or magazines loaded and you’re supposed to keep ammo separately anyways. Buying ammo at the range is hella expensive. But also I feel her on wanting the gun, right after the election results were clear in November I ordered my first gun online right before I went to sleep. I’d been thinking about it for awhile and I told myself if the fucker wins again I’ll have to buy one because things will get bad. I’m really not happy to have been right.
Gun rights were established in the Constitution to limit federal government power, not for shooting people with whom you disagree. Left wing and right wing are both simply dupes, tools, manipulated by the real enemy of The People.
I LOL’d at “Pistol-Waving, Coastal Elite Lesbians Offed in One-Sided Firefight, Seemingly Unaware That Guns Require Bullets”, while being reminded of my gay cousin and his precious concealed carry that he ultimately used to end his life.
That's a terrible implied threat. Can you imagine how you would denigrate someone who said the same thing about liberals?
Just saying we shouldn't be hypocrits. Buy a gun for self defense but don't go around telling people they should be afraid. You sound like the type who would pose in front of a mirror with their gun.
Guns are terribly powerful things. The ability to erase a life in your hand or on your hip, ankle or chest? It changes how a persons brain work, swear to god.
For some? Guns are a lifestyle. For others there scary things. The left never wanted your guns. Ever. All they ever tried to do was do something to make guns not kill innocent children while they sat like ducks. Dying from sucking chest wounds.
Most people want children alive. Not shot in school. Aged 5-18. That’s n oh t a thing that should happen. And every time they wanted to have gun control? It was bipartisan. They wanted to work with the majority of Americans to do anything to make guns safer. They never once said we’re taking your guns. Know who’s saying it? The right!! Try and go to DC with your weapon. Dare you. Remember! The military is there like an occupying force. Like Minnesota? Cities occupied? See what I’m saying? Pretti, a gun owner, legally, was executed. See what’s happening?
Know what we do know about some people and kids? They steal them, they trafficked them, they share them, they assault them, they kill them, maybe eat them. They breed them. They don’t care about you or your kids. At all. And these are the same people that want your guns.
TL:DR; iron up while you can. Both “sides”. Something wicked this way comes. We are learning how the world works. The plan is in the hands of our rulers and they’re trying to fix shit. There are no sides. No left right. Only up. The people need to just look up. If we all look up? We win. Iron up. Iron up iron up. Practice practice practice. Buy more asap, rinse and repeat. And as a 9/11 first responder? Have a go bag, lots of ammo and some kind of plan. And don’t believe the government. Look up.
Cant wait for 20 years from now when the NRA is the new AIPAC cause everyone owns guns and every member of government thinks their defending gun rights.
I mean, most of Conservatives argumentation is some version of 'Hey, x is doing/has a thing I do/have/expect, they don't deserve it and I don't like it—I'm mad.'
Example:
Hey, enslaved people want to be free like me, they don't deserve it, and I don't like it—I'm mad.
Hey, the libtards think they have the right to bear arms like me, and I don't like it—I'm mad.
Hey, women want bodily autonomy under the law like me, they don't deserve it, and I don't like it—I'm mad.
Hey, gay people want to marry (another adult—gotta say that now in days with Conservatives lol), and I don't like it—I'm mad.
They never cared about the Constitution. They only want everyone to have a gun so there's a pretense to execute you on the street when the government finds you in possession of it, just like they did to Alex Pretti.
I mean tbh I think every American citizen should be armed lol regardless of class or political party, and everyone taught gun safety and education. It’s part of the foundation of American culture.
I approve of the author's choice to arm herself. I don't approve of how casually she approaches the responsibility.
> Inevitably, the moment arrived when a child knocked over a drink on our coffee table. It was an old West Elm design with a panel on top and a storage area underneath. The spilled beverage was dripping into the seams, so a crowd of parents rushed to open the table and mop up the liquid pooling within. The first thing they saw when they lifted the panel was a padlocked gun case, helpfully identified by the Smith & Wesson user pamphlet sitting on top, which was now soaked in seltzer.
She's got kids and adults in her house who don't live there. Her gun is locked in a case...which literally anyone could pick up and walk away with. At minimum, people in her situation need to make it as inconvenient as possible to walk off with her guns, and to make them as reasonably inaccessible as possible.
> To be perfectly honest, I’d forgotten I had the gun. Ever since my wife and I moved into a place with more closet space, we rarely used the storage capacity of the coffee table.
Sometimes I forget how many guns I own, but I know where all of them are, and they're not hidden in casual storage in common living areas.
> As for my own gun, I’m more worried about the potential for an accident, and for good reason: Tens of thousands of people suffer unintentional firearm injuries in the U.S. each year. Hundreds die. If I brought bullets into my home for the purposes of self-defense, I’d have to commit to regular training to be anything but a danger to myself and everyone around me. My RFK-look-alike gun instructor recommended going shooting twice a month to be a safe and skillful gun owner. Twice a month! There are people I consider my close friends whom I don’t see that often.
Dry fire helps tremendously with muscle memory, which is ultimately where safe handling happens. I found the lack of enthusiasm about personal responsibility concerning though.
> Will I ever take that next step and buy a box of bullets? I don’t know, and I’m not entirely certain what my tipping point would be.
Ultimately, this person does not have the right mindset for gun ownership. I hope she'll come around, and it is a process for a lot of people, but right now she just doesn't have the motivation to be responsible with guns.
Yeah I’ve always thought it was stupid to let racist, sexist, uneducated homophobes be the only ones who own guns. Glad other left wingers are starting to get the memo
Conservatives arent afraid or terrified of women owning guns, just like no one is terrified if someone buys a drill press or a shovel. Guns are judt tools (along witj many other things) to conservatives. This is just more clickbait drivel from Slate
Really? They were certainly afraid of the Black Panthers owning them in CA in the late 60's when then Governor Ronald Regan signed the Mulford act, stating that he saw "no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons"
That happened 70 years ago, those conservatives a) arent alive today and b) 1970s conservatives arent the same as 2026 conservatives. Like what point are you even trying to make?
You have an incredibly short memory. Trump and his people just last month said nobody should be armed walking around like Alex Pretti was. They said it was his fault he was murdered because he had a concealed weapon while he was trying to help a woman up. This is not 70 years ago, this is now.
And conservatives didnt give a shit. Some huffed and puffed, but no conservative stopped supporting Trump or stopped thier own conservative grifting. No effects what so ever.
Any ccw class you take will tell you to do the opposite of what that moron did. You're supposed to have your permit on you and relay to the police immediately that you're armed...not run in between an ice agent and a woman while armed and fighting them.
I’ve taken CCW classes and never once did they say you have to tell every cop you see that you’re armed. If you get pulled over while driving it’s different, but that’s not what happened here.
Right. 1970s conservatives were somewhat reasonable average people who leaned right as opposed to the 2026 conservative fascists looking to violently suppress dissent and strike fear into their neighbors because they themselves are so terrified by modern life that they can't even bear to hear the facts that the rest of humanity sees clearly. 2026 conservatives will over react VASTLY more than the 1970s versions.
Conveniently, i did just that 2 weeks ago. My steelman of the fundamental values of American conservatism:
1: Government actions taken and laws should always avoid infringing on individual liberties. Rights guaranteed should focus on what you are allowed to do and laws restricting any rights (enumerated or not) must be minimized in their scope and impact. Outside of ensuring the rights and security of individual citizens, the government should be minimized.
2: The law should treat individuals equally and impartially.
3: America is a fundamentally Christian nation of Western descent in the Liberal tradition. Values aligned with that tradition are to be held above all others. By extension, pluralism is a value held, but those individuals that would seek to contravene any values tied to that foundation must be aggressively rejected.
4: As the government of a nation, the responsibilities of the government to its citizenry supersede all others. Any rights extended to non-citizens are only extended with the understanding that they are secondary and shall not infringe on the rights extended to the citizenry
5: America, being a nation, is comprised of a specific group of people. Not just anyone can become an American.
6: Hierarchical systems are a natural and good part of human societies. While equality means all citizens should be treated equally under the law it is also important to respect hierarchies rather than intentionally disrupting them.
Obviously the American conservative movement is intensely factional and is really multiple ideologies in trenchcoat so some of these apply more or less depending on your particular ideological bent.
>Conservatives can easily do it the other way around, because pretty much all of us used to be liberal.
Citation needed. I know this is a thing conservatives like to claim is true, but from what I've ever read it is mostly nonsense. People embrace a set of values that they were raised in by their young adulthood and only significantly shift away from it under exceptional circumstances. In reality, the average conservatives read of liberal ideology is not that far off from a Ben Garrison comic.
I hope that this convinces you that you can have better conversations with people by starting with more positive, constructive rhetoric. People are, generally speaking, willing to talk to you like a person if you don't start off with negative, confrontational rhetoric. Even people like me who find conservatism to be an inherently loathesome ideology.
They voted for an openly corrupt violent serial rapist that ran entirely on a platform of hurting others. It isn't a caricature, it is a high res photograph.
Oh yeah, no, the right would never do that. Can you imagine if like, someone on the left got held down and murdered in cold blood and then the current party's top leadership said immediately they were a terrorist, refused to qualify it, or even backtrack on it? That'd be crazy. It'd never happen, let alone two times in a couple weeks. I think one of the best things about the modern conservative is not only it's ability to look in the mirror and see the truth but to also be respectful of the left, and fellow americans. It's not like even a pundit would stoop so low as to suggest deporting americans because they forgot america has it's own spanish speaking little territory.
In a thread about whether you can accurately model how the other side thinks, doubling down on a shortlist of leftist talking points is an odd response.
How well can you steelman contemporary conservative views?
No, sorry, are you still not reading articles? The thread is about a slate article, and responses to it. Are you really going to veer way off topic, then get mad when someone else takes that in bad faith and goes further off topic? Does that feel like productive discourse to you?
“We are intellectually and morally superior to you, how come you guys don’t like us?” I’m more of a centrist but this elitism and UBER-progressiveness by Democrats truly did push the Orange Man back into power.
When one side is actively running on a campaign of hate, and votes for an openly corrupt serial rapist, then yeah, maybe the other side IS morally superior.
I agree, the US is not ready for progressiveness. It is still a backwards place filled with hateful, racist people.
It takes time to get people on board. You guys came out a little hot with the mutilation of children’s genitalia. Most people are naturally liberal, you have to just give them time to come around to these crazy ass ideas.
See, there is NO mutilation of children's genitalia happening at all, that's the facts, there is no other side to it. But the ill-informed who loathe people not exactly like themselves lean into and want to believe these untruths because it makes them feel nice. They will always get militantly defensive when anyone tries to update them because they like to feel the outrage. They don't deserve to be coddled because they aren't going to change (unless something happens to directly affect their personal well-being, of course).
So if it’s not happening then why are there regulations being put into place to stop it from happening? https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-acts-bar-hospitals-performing-sex-rejecting-procedures-children.html
Rubbing it in is bad form for candidates and a losing political move but it's impossible to look at America right now and see that one party is vastly morally and intellectually superior to the other one.
Also, to suggest that the Democratic Party is the least bit progressive is laughable. America has only center right and far right parties in the uniparty duopoly
Oh nooo the left are completely coming around on the 2A noooo. You know how they could terrify us even more? Become serious about 1A, and be proud of Western civilization. THAT would be scary!
>The left historically and currently has cared plenty about 1a.
I actually laughed. Imagine if you got deplatformed from reddit, Youtube and twitter for "woke speech" and the right constantly decided that more and more things were "woke speech". The left has never known what it's like to be shut out of speech, because the right is actually consistent in letting you speak your mind, even when the right is in power.
Many of us aren't anti-gun at all. We just understand that guns are dangerous objects and likely should have some regulation around them. Here in Ohio, it's easier to get a gun than it is to drive a car. And I don't know if you've met some folks from around here, but some of them should not be given a firearm.
Which is why America should also heavily invest in public transportation.
But going along the lines of this, heart disease kills almost 6x as many people as Alzheimer's Disease. Should we drop all funding for it and put it towards heart disease instead? Heart disease kills more people than cancer too. Should we end cancer research? Of course not because we don't just tackle the biggest problem, we tackle all problems.
And if it's helpful, guns are the number one cause of death for children. I don't even like kids and I think this is a very sad statistic.
People can own guns, but reform would be great. National background checks, mandatory gun safety courses, mandatory lock boxes, and gun licenses don't seem like a major ask given that to own a car, I have to take drivers training, have insurance, and renew my license. And let's bring back duty to retreat while we are here.
Conservatives have had guns for years and we use them, regularly. We aren’t terrified of anyone buying a gun, and taking an 8 hour training course. Have you ever shot a deer, an elk? Have seen what a bullet does to flesh? Are you ready to handle that?
Conservatives (who are very pro-gun and many profit from the gun industry) are absolutely not afraid of people like her buying guns.
This person is trying to give themselves importance and set a "defiant" tone instead of acknowledging what conservatives have been saying all along- that you can't trust your government and that the 2nd Amendment is important because of this fact.
Buying a firearm responsibly and developing a hobby for going to the range will get you off of the internet, at which point you'll meet people outside and find out that the world isn't that bad and people aren't the evil demons Reddit convinced you they were
This is a great way to get them uncomfy and less excited to profess their gun obsession, if they saw blue hair at their local range they'd never come back. Take up the hobby, it's quite fun as a secondary benefit and good to be proficient if things continue to escalate.
Yes that basic handgun that you got "just in case" and took 1 training class with is gonna be enough to defend yourself with from authoritarians. 🙄 Most of these new liberals are gonna a fudd ass mindset that make them ineffectual liabilities.
Girl, the fucking GOP cucks aren't doing jack all against authoritarianism, and I assure you, many of them have rocks in their head about basic gun safety. You can look at any video of ICE goons with trigger discipline worse than the Keystone Kops.
In that hypothetical scenario where ice goes after regular people that people so afraid of, do you believe libs with a handgun is gonna be enough when those goons come knocking with body armor and AR15s? Hell even maga civilians probably would back em up and would probably have FRTs in their ARs. That just in case handgun owner aint doing shit. Trigger discipline aint keeping you from getting mag dumped.
dylones | 6 hours ago
As a supporter of the 2nd I think all gay folks should own machine guns. Everyone deserves the right to defend themselves.
Muvseevum | 6 hours ago
I know country gay dudes, and better believe they’re packing heat.
Woodworkingwino | 5 hours ago
My wife’s hairdresser and I got into the conversation of favorite guns for everyday carry. Him and his husband are both armed. Welcome to the south.
Geeky_Husband | an hour ago
"Pawpaw didn't run shine through these hollers so you could be a bootlicker." At least that what my Appalachian wife says.
TheLichWitchBitch | 11 minutes ago
Yeehaw and fuck the law!
Caliguta | 2 hours ago
I knew plenty of gay dudes in the Marine Corps…. I promise they knew weapons as well as how to fight.
tinygraysiamesecat | 2 hours ago
In more ways than one 😉
Grendernaz | 2 hours ago
You spelled meat wrong
ghostfadekilla | an hour ago
Oh I bet a lot of them are. ;)
sacredblasphemies | 6 hours ago
Trans people should arm the fuck up. Getting mispronouned might sting but no one is going to really fuck with you when you're packing. (Pun intended, my trans bros.)
June_The_Jedi | 5 hours ago
One more good thing about getting curves is concealing is a whole lot easier.
fer_sure | 5 hours ago
>my trans bros
Was that part intended as a pun?
sludge_dragon | 4 hours ago
The pun is immediately before the open parenthesis.
VaporCarpet | 4 hours ago
Women and enbies can be bros, dude.
fer_sure | 3 hours ago
It's funny how our casual collective nouns tend to be originally masculine, though. Dudes, guys, bros... The only feminine one that comes to mind is "bitches" but I'd be pretty careful about what group I say "wassup, bitches!" to.
dedicated-pedestrian | 2 hours ago
Girlie/pop has attained unisex status as well, albeit relatively recently.
Havenolife6667 | 3 hours ago
I was recently included as an honorary girly pop and I love it. My girls are my dudes and I (the dude) am a girly pop
SwitchAny3208 | an hour ago
So misgendering someone is a form of violence?
bluespartans | 15 minutes ago
Do you not think that bullying and dehumanization are a form of violence?
SwitchAny3208 | 11 minutes ago
No. Definitively, violence is physical. What you're talking about is completely subjective.
Tall-News | 48 minutes ago
There’s one less armed trans in British Columbia.
The_Motley_Fool---- | 6 hours ago
Have you seen the price of machine guns since the 1986 ban on civilians owning newly manufactured full autos!?! Insane!!!
Or did you actually mean semi automatic rifles?
forkonce | 6 hours ago
Aah that shouldn’t be a problem for the gays, what with all the PRIDE stuff they’ve been selling. They’re all millionaire businessgays, slinging armalite street sweepers!
/s
alkatori | 4 hours ago
They should just repeal the 1986 ban.
hitemlow | an hour ago
And the rest of the NFA while they're at it!
Also this "sensitive places" BS has got to go, just look how New York is abusing the hell out of it...
dylones | 6 hours ago
I care not about a 1986 ban. All weapons should be unregistered. I mean full autos.
percussaresurgo | 5 hours ago
And RPGs, armed drones, attack helicopters, howitzers, chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons? Seems reasonable.
Ajegwu | 5 hours ago
I want a Bazooka!
dylones | 5 hours ago
I like surface to air missiles. Billionaire jet tracking is a hobby of mine.
JohnSith | 5 hours ago
For duck huntin'.
dylones | 5 hours ago
whatever you can get your hands on of course.
dylones | 5 hours ago
Yesssss, keep downvoting, but yessss it is a real opinion. Not joking
James_Solomon | 4 hours ago
Checks out, polyamory is great for crew served weapons.
crowmagnuman | 33 minutes ago
polyarmory
rainator | 5 hours ago
We’ve seen on the international stage, you really need nuclear weapons to be properly left alone. Anything else is just posturing.
PersonalHospital9507 | 3 hours ago
The trying to get nuclear weapons ala Iran can be brutal.
reddit455 | 4 hours ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Pistols#History
Inspired by a Salon.com article by Jonathan Rauch,^([2]) Krikket (aka Doug Krick), a libertarian activist from Illinois living in Massachusetts, founded the Pink Pistols in July 2000. The organization had at least 45 chapters as of October 2014.^([1]) Those chapters are located in 33 states and three countries that are principally made up of gun-owning LGBTQ individuals, though neither status is mandatory for membership.^([3])
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_Shooting_Sports_of_Utah
Stonewall Shooting Sports of Utah is a group of gun rights advocates in Utah. It supports the Pink Pistols' idea that was described nationally in 2000 by writer Jonathan Rauch for the legal, responsible and safe use of weapons for their self defense, recreation and shooting sports. Hundreds of supporters including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) have joined the group since 2002 when it was founded by Utah gay activist David Nelson.^([1])^([2])
lovebus | 4 hours ago
I need a grenade launcher for home defense
Islanduniverse | 5 hours ago
People should only have the right to guns that were produced in 1791, when the second amendment was ratified.
Get yourselves a kickass Chelembrom Repeating Flintlock.
dylones | 3 hours ago
I keep my blunderbuss filled with Benadryl. Good luck enetring my home uninvited.
Valiran9 | 2 hours ago
Do you mean Benadryl?
dylones | 2 hours ago
yes I did thanks
Zagaroth | 3 hours ago
110%, and those who are better off might want to have a few extras in case they ever need to be handed out.
Guns and ammunition are not cheap, and apartment complexes sometimes have rules forbidding guns. If shit goes south, then those who have s bit of extra wealth right now might want to invest in being able to arm a few allies in the future .
I hope it does not come to that, but the possibility seems to be slowly growing in likely hood.
Sorry folks, its got to be this way now.
Valiran9 | 2 hours ago
Yeah, I can’t afford to buy a gun right now and I live in Washington state, which prohibited the sale of automatic weapons in 2023.
alkatori | 19 minutes ago
Did they ban those in addition to the semi-autos?
RelevantAttempt56720 | an hour ago
The sale and distribution of arms to minority groups (such as the LGBTQ+) is an interesting idea. But there’s something so… difficult to put my finger on about your comment. This is not the first time I have teared up thinking about the situation in the USA.
And I’m not from there, nor do I have family or anything from there - just one American internet friend who is currently deployed elsewhere. But it’s so harrowing to think about. And when I remember this is just normal for you guys now, it’s even sadder.
If I were religious, I’d be saying a daily prayer for you guys. Put through the wringer all because half of your country got sucked into a cult that was engineered by the powers that be to prey on the lower class, when instead they desperately needed class consciousness. But as always when commenting on this, I want to remind you that truth will prevail over loyalty. It’s not you against them. It’s them against the rest of you.
Master_Reflection579 | an hour ago
Stop, I can only get so hard. Wait no... Don't stop.
Emotional_Note497 | 3 hours ago
No citizen actually owns "machine guns", machine guns are extremely heavy, they are also automatic weapons. Do you know many men that could run around with a 50+ pound weapon. Submachine guns are for close quarters, most used weapons are pistols and assault rifles. Good luck getting the machine guns.
The_Motley_Fool---- | 3 hours ago
I own a fully functional Colt M1895 “potato digger”. And yes, with the tripod and ammo, it is very heavy.
Alert-Ad9197 | 2 hours ago
A SAW and a 240 are both nowhere near 50lbs, maybe if you counted the A bag and a full combat load of ammo to go with it.
dylones | 3 hours ago
Yeah, I was in the Army. I fully understand the conversation I am commenting on.
ARoseConePolio | 6 hours ago
I'm a hippy dippy vegetarian soy beta and I'm taking a CCW class this month and getting a gun soon. Granted, I grew up in the country with guns but still I'm not your right wing redneck.
Sweaty_Assignment_90 | an hour ago
Just be aware, that is the bare min of training you need. To be even safe and decent, put in some time training.
ARoseConePolio | an hour ago
Oh, I know. I have experience shooting and will get plenty more continuous range time. Thanks. It's something I take incredibly seriously and not at all flippantly.
Bloody_Smashing | 52 minutes ago
New and old shooters alike should learn and memorize the 4 Fundamental Rules of Gun Safety.
Treat all guns as if they are loaded and ready-to-fire.
Never point a gun at anything you do not intend to destroy.
Keep your fingers both off and away from the trigger, until you are ready-to-fire.
Know your target, and what is beyond it.
Anyone that cant manage this, doesn't deserve their 2A rights.
InvestIntrest | 3 hours ago
As a longtime gun owner and CCW permit holder, I'm glad we can finally put the lefts ridiculous rhetoric regarding guns behind us. See how stupid that was all along?
Thanks Trump!
ikilledholofernes | 2 hours ago
“Things are so bad in this country that even leftists feel the need to take up arms. Thanks Trump!”
lmao what a stupid take
InvestIntrest | 2 hours ago
The stupid take was thinking the 2A was stupid.
ahal | 2 hours ago
The rest of the world: it is.
Outlaw_Josie_Snails | an hour ago
In your country (Canada), Possession and Acquisition License (PAL) gun holders has reached a record high, surpassing 2.4 million people.
HamasHidesUnderWomen | an hour ago
Also the rest of the world: protect us, America!
chudforthechudgod | an hour ago
More like don't invade your allies America
BaronVonSchmup | an hour ago
How does the 2A have any effect on the US "protecting" other countries? There is 0 correlation
InvestIntrest | 2 hours ago
That must be why the rest of the world sucks comparatively
Intelligent_Nail9575 | an hour ago
The rest of the world? Of course you'd think the healthy, happy, stable countries suck while the authoritarian shitholes like Russia, North Korea, and the USA were somehow good by comparison.
It's like thinking apallachian-oil-barrel-moonshine was better than quality professionally-brewed bourbon.
It's not. It just does more to help you weird-assed little snowflakes cope.
InvestIntrest | an hour ago
>authoritarian shitholes like Russia, North Korea, and the USA
🤣
Intelligent_Nail9575 | an hour ago
Can't expect an intelligent response from the unintelligent....
InvestIntrest | an hour ago
Sorry, I was too busy laughing at the comparison of the United States to Russia and NK.
Thanks, I needed a good laugh
Destrae | an hour ago
Have you ever actually left the US....
InvestIntrest | an hour ago
Yes
DeadEyeTucker | 2 hours ago
2A is not stupid on its own.
Unfortunately we as a species are too stupid to wield it responsibly with no oversight.
Intelligent_Nail9575 | an hour ago
Honestly, this is my opinion, too. Sadly, the stupid ones being the primary backers of 2A has just made public opinion worse. Add on the belief said idiots hold that it's all-encompassing and absolute for them and non-existent for us, and their utter failure to use it for anything productive, and instead use it to be destructive, and you got a perfect storm of counterpoints against the 2A.
They certainly haven't used it for the maintenance of a free state. Many have done the opposite.
Major_Shlongage | 2 hours ago
Invent any excuse that you want. The important thing is that you've come around and support gun rights now.
ikilledholofernes | an hour ago
I’ve always supported gun rights, to an extent. So idk who you’re referring to.
And the limits I think should be placed on gun ownership have not changed now that more people on my side of the aisle are considering purchasing a firearm.
Seems like you’re just building strawmen. The left has never collectively argued that all guns should be illegal for all citizens.
You just fell for all the “they’re gunna take yer guns!!!” propaganda. Congrats.
Spe3dGoat | 2 hours ago
the title is ridiculous. the "right" has been trying to get the left to understand the importance of the 2A since forever
if a scumbag like trump is what it took, glad you finally got there
see ? it was your take that was stupid.
ikilledholofernes | an hour ago
The left never denied the importance of the second amendment. They were only ever in favor of common sense gun control.
Them buying guns legally and responsibly is not hypocrisy.
Adventurous_Egg_3293 | an hour ago
How are you using your 2A right to protect your neighbors from being abducted by masked men? What about the FBI and DHS saying you can't have a gun in public and not expect to be shot by an agent? I see lots of nothing from the right so far.
mp6521 | 3 hours ago
It’s not really the left. It’s liberals. You go far enough left and the tankies are stockpiling weapons just as much as Vanilla ISIS on the right.
Spe3dGoat | 2 hours ago
there is no material difference between the left and liberals in the US
they all vote the same
quacks like a duck and all.
Intelligent_Nail9575 | an hour ago
No. The liberals are still right wing. There's no major left-wing party in the US, just a near right party - Democrats - and a far-right fascist party - "Republicans".
The only true left we have is primarily independents. They often "join" the Democrats for the same reason voters do - keeping the fascists out of office. Essentially, they're the lesser of two evils.
A goose that quacks like a duck is still a goose. Just a goose with a misleading message.
ShaunDark | an hour ago
That's because the brilliant voting system in the US basically forces them to vote for the Democrats, despite realising those don't really represent their interests.
nostrademons | an hour ago
Tell that to San Francisco, where the main political divide is between the leftist wing and the neoliberal wing.
Who_Isnt_Alpharius | 2 hours ago
The real hurdle is going to be getting establishment dem politicians on the wagon, while the rest of us on the ground see the value of the 2A - policy makers are still pushing for laws in the other direction.... I'm hopeful for change but also prepared to be disappointed just like what happened with healthcare reform
ARoseConePolio | 2 hours ago
Toss off, mate.
"You bring a gun into the district, you mark my words, you’re going to jail. I don't care if you have a license in another district and I don’t care if you're a law-abiding gun owner somewhere else. You bring a gun into this district, count on going to jail and hope you get the gun back." Jeanine Pirro
https://www.politifact.com/article/2026/feb/04/washington-DC-gun-firearm-rules-jeanine-pirro/
“You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns,” - Donald Trump
https://www.wpr.org/news/wisconsin-gun-rights-advocates-uneasy-trump-comments-after-pretti-killing
I'm pro gun control. Guns should be only allowed in responsible, law abiding, and well trained hands like my own. A well regulated militia.
InvestIntrest | 2 hours ago
>Guns should be only allowed in responsible, law abiding, and well trained hands like my own
So I get to keep all my guns! Awesome
cited | 5 hours ago
You'd be giving them the last thing they needed. A reason. Justification. Because some morons are going to do something stupid with those guns and an actual battle is what they really wanted this entire time. Make no mistake, they win any battle that involves guns. The way you beat them is at the ballot box.
Due_Satisfaction2167 | 5 hours ago
They don’t need a justification. They don’t care. If they don’t have one, they’ll just make one up anyway.
What you’re doing by refusing to get armed out of fear of what they will do in response is complying in advance with fascism.
> and an actual battle is what they really wanted this entire time.
No. They say they do, but what they actually want is to have you so cowed and disarmed they can abuse you without you doing anything to stop or hinder them.
mrey75 | 4 hours ago
DO NOT comply in advance. Periodt
gustache | 4 hours ago
oh come on. If voting was a solution, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.
at this point, I assume anyone in 2026 saying "c'mon guys, don't give them pretext, just sit back and wait for your turn to vote" is a bot or part of a psyop.
on the off chance that you're real: grow up and do better
AnyMeasurement6963 | 5 hours ago
This is a bad take. Using a firearm is so simple a child could do it. Battles are won on planning and financial support. Assuming all battles are already lost is so defeatist that I have to assume you are in bad faith.
Background-Wolf-9380 | 5 hours ago
LOL. "beat them at the ballot box" is hilarious when we haven't had an honestly run election in 18 years and it's clear the entire ruling class is in 100% lock step solidarity while keeping Americans so evenly split that they can just keep forcing worse and worse choices on us.
Yeah, citizens lose in an open battle of fixed positions but it's been shown constantly that no amount of overwhelming force can truly conquer a guerilla movement. At the very least when they come bashing down doors to take away dissenters we can exact a cost to them for it rather than languishing in camps to be killed slowly.
SubGeniusX | 3 hours ago
Farther back than that.
Hanging Chad.
Bush v. Gore
RegressToTheMean | 3 hours ago
There are four boxes of liberty. They are, in order, as follows:
If you haven't noticed, people are being beaten, arrested, blinded and murdered for executing their first amendment rights
There are some nefarious machinations with elections. If the GOP isn't fully tampering voter suppression is very, very real (there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in Texas)
SCOTUS is bought and owned by the oligarchs and the executive branch is completely disregarding judicial orders
You tell me where we're at and why in the hell are you complying in advance? Jesus. Look around and pay attention
Who_Isnt_Alpharius | 2 hours ago
The justification to do what exactly? They're already occupying cities, carrying out summary executions of people in the street, disappearing entire families....what else would they be needing justification for that isn't already happening?
discopirate2000 | 2 hours ago
Hey, a smart person 👋
Bawbawian | 6 hours ago
same but I bought mine back in 2016 when the electoral college put this clown car in power for the first time and I understood that we were completely off the rails and if something serious happened to this country I was on my own.
two shotguns a half a pallet of medical supplies and canned food served me very well during COVID although thankfully I didn't need the shotguns.
5hawnking5 | 6 hours ago
You had me in the first half with the shotgun statement 😅
[OP] Slate | 6 hours ago
In 2024, a spilled seltzer at a toddler’s birthday party revealed a secret hidden in Slate writer Christina Cauterucci’s coffee table: a padlocked Smith & Wesson 9 mm. At the time, it was a forgotten prop from a half-finished reporting assignment, from a big-city writer who’d never touched a gun. But as Trump’s second term cast a dark shadow over America—spiking hate crimes against queer and trans people like her—her weapon became something else entirely: a grim insurance policy she wondered if she’d actually have to use. Repulsed by the possibility but eager to protect herself and her loved ones, Cauterucci did the one thing she never could have imagined she’d have to do: learn to shoot her gun, and learn to shoot it well.
Through head-turning scenes at the gun range and profoundly revealing conversations with other queer gun owners, Cauterucci considers whether the fantasy of a ready combatant is really just a seductive substitute for a fading sense of state protection. Is her gun a security blanket, or a provocation that invites the very violence she fears?
You can read here: https://slate.com/life/2026/02/gun-range-safety-gay-lesbian-lgbtq-trump.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=christina_guns&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--christina_guns
zaxldaisy | 6 hours ago
Author, while being shepherded out the front door to the camps, "should I have used my gun to protect myself, or did having a gun invite this fate?"
joebleaux | 6 hours ago
Exactly. But people in the government already know that the guns aren't ever going to be used against them in any meaningful way. If they did, they would not let you have them. And as far as the constitution, they don't care, it is meaningless at this point. This whole thing was always a gentleman's agreement, the guys in now just have a well documented history of not honoring agreements. The moment they think someone might be putting together "a well regulated militia" that is counter to the ideology they'd prefer it'd be, they will start seizing firearms.
percussaresurgo | 5 hours ago
They can only seize firearms if armed people let them.
joebleaux | 5 hours ago
Sure, if those people are better armed or better trained than the US military. I don't think there is a single nation in the world that could take on the US on its home turf, so I don't think that it'll matter if you are armed or not.
cailleacha | 4 hours ago
I’ve been thinking about this and I think it depends on your idea of winning. I don’t think we won Iraq or Afghanistan. We destroyed millions of lives and left generational wounds, but we didn’t “win.” We also haven’t fought on home turf since the Civil War.
I don’t think a glorious Leninist revolution is coming. I also don’t think Americans are willing en masse to resist the way fighters like the Viet Cong did. I don’t feel any confidence other countries would aid US civilians resisting the US military. But I also think a war on home turf is undesirable to the US government for a lot of reasons and we should think about that when we consider the playing field. Is the US Army willing to drone strike Ohio? Maybe! There’s a lot of damage an armed populace could do before being ultimately suppressed. It would be terrible for everyone, but I’m not willing to discount it as a potential future.
joebleaux | 3 hours ago
Yeah, there is no need for a "war" on the side of the government, they can just suppress any uprising as it happens, just like they currently do. And yeah, I don't see Americans getting organized en masse to form a fighting force, and the instant the feds catch wind of that it is getting shut down. There's a lot of people online hollering about Live Free or Die while they are eating free pizza at Planet Fitness, you know? A revolution by fire power isn't happening, and a defense via fire power isn't happening either. It's got to be via infiltrating the system like Trump did. Come in and take over a major party. The problem is we need someone who wants to do away with money being the driving factor behind everything, because that's what's fucking everything up. That's how Trump got the GOP behind him after he took over their party, he's making them all rich. I'm not sure how you take over without it being about money.
RelevantAttempt56720 | an hour ago
Convince Elon to be normal again.
Unfortunately he is anti-trans, which I believe is a political position that can be maintained on either side of the political spectrum. It’s just that it’s a controversial issue that has led many to political homelessness, and led the rest of the people who believe it to the right. This is because many of those politically homeless people are still by every other measure left wing, but often they don’t feel comfortable voting for the Democrats because they are pro-trans. Either way, the belief that trangenderism is an ideology that promotes harm leads people to be at least perceived as centrist to right wing.
For Elon, his child coming out as trans may have been the final straw given his beliefs regarding apartheid. Now he’s a right-wing nut job who bankrolls the political party he feels will better represent his interests. And I’m not sure that you could convince him to go back on any of that, because he is surrounded by these goons 24/7.
Find another billionaire. That’s the problem with billionaires, they are greedy and selfish assholes. And that is why they’re all Republican. The real answer to finding someone who will bankroll the Democrats is likely to be too specific and nuanced for anyone on Reddit to reasonably predict what will happen next at this point in time. But it’s my uneducated Aussie opinion that they’d only need to run a mid-40s or 50s white male candidate who isn’t too extreme. A moderate. They’d win by a landslide.
joebleaux | an hour ago
They could win, but they wouldn't have the support of the other people in the party like trump did. They all bend over for him because he's making them rich. But if that's the problem you want to fix, it'll be hard to get support, because the Democrat leadership are also motivated by maintaining the current arrangements that allowed them to also become fantastically wealthy. None of top in either party are interested in limiting their own power or influence or sources of income.
cailleacha | an hour ago
Speaking as a gender non-conforming American, the mainstream Democrats really aren’t the trans radicals they get portrayed as. There are some that are out there, but the core Dem position is anti-bathroom bills and pro-protecting gender identity in discrimination laws but fine with limiting trans people in sports and gender care for minors. I’m actually very frustrated with how much the Democrats let the right wing set the talking points for this topic. They need to reclaim the narrative of “personal freedom from unreasonable search” and “adults making medical choices without interference from government.” They’ve let the moral panic from the MAGA outrage machine totally drive the conversation.
I also think the right wing has become more virulently anti-trans than they used to be, because people realized it was a wedge issue and/or something to engagement farm. Not that evangelical Christians were ever particularly accepting, but they didn’t constantly interject “but you believe men can be women” into every conversation. It’s a fixation because it feels like you can easily write off your opponent as crazy and not worth listening to. (This is not an exclusively right wing behavior, but the “you think men should be in little girls locker rooms” thing is a RW special.)
American politics just all feels so stupid these days. Everything is vibes. No one wants to fact check or refer to actual data. Everything is about how you feel, and fuck the facts. I’m a bit of a doomer at this point—something big and bad is going to have to happen to shake us off the road we’re on. There’s no way we just elect Shapiro and things go back to normal.
Formal-Row2081 | 4 hours ago
What is your point here exactly
joebleaux | 3 hours ago
People are foolish if they think they could shoot at any member of the federal government and still be alive after. The 2nd amendment and the right to bear arms is something they continue allow in order to keep people scared of each other, because it is useful for political campaigns if you can keep your voter base scared of your opponent's voter base. The guns will only ever get used on literally anyone except the oppressive government. The revolution must be by infiltrating the power structure of the system, and that is way more difficult than pulling a trigger. Trump did it to the Republicans. Total take over of a party he wasn't even a member of. The Democrats shut Bernie down when he tried to take over a party he wasn't a member of, but the folks in charge there prefer Trump over Bernie anyway, they have the same goals.
Formal-Row2081 | 3 hours ago
Thanks - I disagree with some small points but it’s a coherent view
iamthe0ther0ne | 3 hours ago
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26184
joebleaux | 3 hours ago
Neat, let me know how that works out when they have weapons that work through walls and completely disable your body and make you feel like your head is going to explode and like you are going to shit your pants instantaneously.
percussaresurgo | 2 hours ago
The US military has a bad track record of controlling local populations who oppose them. Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam are a few examples. Add to the the fact that a significant portion of the US military would either side with the opposition, or at least refuse an illegal order to confiscate firearms without due process, and it’s not nearly as simple as you seem to envision.
joebleaux | an hour ago
It doesn't happen overnight. It's happened before.
lovebus | 4 hours ago
This is the US military we are talking about. They can seize firearms from established countries, to say nothing about their own citizenry.
Dest123 | 3 hours ago
Can they though? Like, didn't we just get out of a 20 year engagement where the people who we kicked out of the country and tried to kill for 20 years immediately used their guns to reclaim power?
I can't think of any examples of us seizing firearms from established countries in a meaningful way. We can obviously kill particular people with impunity and destroy infrastructure, but when have we ever successfully taken down an armed population?
lovebus | 3 hours ago
We demilitarized Japan and Germany after WW2
Dest123 | 2 hours ago
True, I suppose they probably could disarm the US population if they were willing to level cities.
percussaresurgo | 2 hours ago
Because that was part of the terms of their surrender after they just lost a war. They surrendered their arms willingly at that point.
Glittering_Company36 | 5 hours ago
Written like she’s about to start fucking the gun
Chaseism | 6 hours ago
I both agree and disagree with this article.
Conservatives don't have the only claim on guns and given the times we live in, progressives should protect themselves. During the Civil Rights Movement, Black people started arming themselves because non-violence wasn't the only solution, especially for a people that were constantly met with violence. It makes those looking to inflict pain to consider if it's worth their lives.
However...I'm not buying a gun and likely never will. I don't want to live in a country where owning a gun is the only way to live. I don't want to feel like I need that gun to protect myself. I don't want to die, but I also don't want to exist in a world where those things are true. At some point, if we want a world with less weapons, we have to be willing to put them down ourselves. I know that's hippy-dippy bullshit, but I don't care.
As much as I think Malcolm X and Magneto were right, that's not where my heart is.
borkus | 5 hours ago
I'd go further - the headline in the link is not supported by the article AT ALL.
The article is about the author and other LGBTQ people owning and practicing with firearms. The author interviews a variety of people in left-leaning gun groups as well as friends who have bought firearms. The couple of shooting instructors who are likely pro-Trump seem happy enough to train anyone.
I've read the article a couple of times, and at no point does the journalist get a comment from conservatives or quotes by conservatives opposing LGBTQ gun ownership.
I'm not criticising the article - it's fine. However, the editors at Slate give it a title designed to attract click-throughs.
Chaseism | 5 hours ago
You're correct here. I mean, we do have evidence of what the writer said. I'm in Ohio and our Republican governor said not to bring guns to protests. A few politicians in Washington have also talked about not carrying guns. And all that is because they see gun ownership from the left as a threat. What happens if progressives acted like conservatives when it comes to guns? Different story. It's odd the writer didn't interview those politicians and challenge them on it.
FSCK_Fascists | an hour ago
> uring the Civil Rights Movement, Black people started arming themselves because non-violence wasn't the only solution, especially for a people that were constantly met with violence.
And guess where California's restrictive gun laws came from? Reagan and the NRA teaming up to stop those black people.
Chaseism | an hour ago
Right. It's cool when folks arm themselves...except the ones being oppressed or marginalized. Nowadays, it's scary when the liberals are doing it.
ScoobyDoobieDoo | 5 hours ago
I feel torn as well. We shouldn't have to own them, and giving in on that feels like giving up. I have three young kids and I know that gun accidents can't happen if there aren't any guns in the house. I'm also up to my eyeballs in bills and the daily 3-kid grind, so idk where I'd even get the time and money to buy one and train!
Indaarys | an hour ago
This is the crux of why I think, if we were going to modernize the 2nd Amendment, it should enshrine a right to self-defend alongside the right not to self-defend.
People should have equitable access to firearms with which to practice meaningful self-defense, but at the same time society needs to be obligated legally to provide for the material conditions that make it a choice, and not an obligation, to own firearms.
And as a consequence, it provides us a legal framework to lay down a hard line in the proverbial sand on what does and doesn't qualify as being meaningful for self-defense (and when other factors supersede that right), and whether or not we do this democratically or technocratically, it'd work to ensure everyone reaches a mutual understanding.
Problem is of course that when I bring this up to certain people, it doesn't fly because its neither anti-gun nor anti-regulation (but is pro-gun, ironically), which is the crux of why the issue is so polarized and goes no where in America, as the most vocal on either side are absolutists who won't entertain ceding any ground to the other side, even mutually.
BusinessConcert5364 | 17 minutes ago
You are well within your rights to make the decision. Regardless of your opinions on gun ownership regulations in the US, they are deadly weapons that require extensive training and - if stored and used improperly- could pose a danger to the owner and their loved ones.
It’s pretty similar to driving an automobile - if you don’t feel that you could competently shoot a gun, or dedicate yourself to the time/training required to competently shoot a gun, it’s best that you don’t own a gun.
I don’t have the same ideological qualms about gun ownership, but I fully support people knowing themselves and saying “this isn’t for me.”
wtg2989 | 6 hours ago
I’ve had guns for decades. Also, take mma or boxing training. Wrestling too. Get fucking lethal
The_Motley_Fool---- | 6 hours ago
The Slate article states that the ICE officer said, “fucking lesbian bitch” after shooting Renee Good. The video from that shooting does not have the word “lesbian”. The officer said, “fucking bitch”.
Why would the Slate article add the word and change the quote?
percussaresurgo | 5 hours ago
They’re talking about a separate incident.
“Another protester, who identified themself as a former U.S. Marine, claimed in an interview posted on X that federal officers had mocked Good while violently arresting them. “They said, ‘Have you not learned? This is why we killed that lesbian bitch!’” the protester said.”
That’s a protester’s unverified claim, but it’s a different encounter. Slate didn’t add a word to the quote you’re thinking of.
JustAoplogize | 5 hours ago
There wasn’t just one officer could have been talking about another officer won’t know they cover their faces
Kristoveles | 5 hours ago
He said it later
NegScenePts | 4 hours ago
As an outsider to the USA, I have a question. So far, in my 53 years of life, all I've ever seen the 2A do is end in the death of children, and feed the hero fantasy of every carry/CC person in the country.
Is there a point where the chest-thumping stops and the change begins? Like, since the 'right' has been creating beer-league militias for decades and they've done nothing...what will a bunch of 'left' weekend cosplayers do? Nothing + nothing = something?
GroundbreakingBag164 | 4 hours ago
Nope, they all (and I mean genuinely all of them) genuinely believe all of that shit
Literally almost every other country on earth (whether extremely authoritarian or more free and democratic than the US will ever be) has come to the conclusion that lots of murder weapons in civilian hands are generally a bad idea
alkatori | 3 hours ago
Probably not much.
Though police have resisted on pushing armed protestors to violence in the past.
The Bundy jackasses proved that. They waited them out. Thought it's just as likely that police don't really want to enforce laws against conservatives.
vi_sucks | 2 hours ago
For the left, it's not really about seriously thinking that we can change society or fight off the army.
It's more about the fear of a right wing lynch mob showing up and not being able to trust the police to protect you. And sure, even then we probably realistically won't win, but it'll feel better to go down fighting.
ToadWithHugeTitties | 57 minutes ago
It doesn't even need to be a mob - It just takes one pissed off right-winger that decides to make you or a loved one a target.
Spe3dGoat | 2 hours ago
Guns are used to stop crimes like burglary, rape and assault THOUSANDS of times a year.
By some estimates its much larger than that.
An anti-gun organization did the math and came up with
"According to the survey, firearms were used defensively in 166,900 nonfatal violent crimes between 2014 and 2018, which works out to an average of 33,380 per year. Over the same period, defensive gun use was reported in 183,300 property crimes, or an average of 36,660 per year.
Taken together, that’s 70,040 instances of defensive gun use per year."
I think maybe before posting an ignorant and shallow comment, show us you actually have a brain and research a subject before commenting ?
NegScenePts | an hour ago
Can you prove that a firearm was NEEDED in order to ensure non-fatal or positive results, in any of those? Pulling a gun during a crime does not mean it's REQUIRED, just that it happened. Statistics from other countries can demonstrate defense without firearms during criminal acts.
Unless you're saying the 'Greatest Country in the World' with the most 'Freedom' requires firearms in order to benefit from the 'freedom' due to the crime being so much more violent and prevalent than anywhere else in the world...
Lost-Bad-8718 | 14 minutes ago
Yes, we can, because the police don't respond to every crime in every location somewhat equitably like they do in other countries. I could call 911 right where I am after the sun is down and nothing would happen. If you're elderly or disabled especially you need a gun to protect yourself if you live here, full stop.
CharleyNobody | 5 hours ago
Yeah, nobody’s “terrified” about liberals buying guns. They’re not even concerned.
pHyR3 | 4 hours ago
it's not necessarily liberals they're worried about. people got pretty worried when the black panthers started arming themselves
Spe3dGoat | 2 hours ago
ok boomer
Parking-Fruit1436 | 52 minutes ago
https://www.history.com/articles/black-panthers-gun-control-nra-support-mulford-act
pHyR3 | 12 minutes ago
so nothing of value to add, checks out
SunbeamSailor67 | 3 hours ago
Conservatives have always been terrified of anyone other than them owning guns.
connordavis88 | 2 hours ago
100%, that's why they advocate 2A rights and 25% of NRA members are registered Democrats, it's because they hate the idea of people owning guns
Parking-Fruit1436 | 51 minutes ago
https://www.history.com/articles/black-panthers-gun-control-nra-support-mulford-act
always?
connordavis88 | 45 minutes ago
I'm sorry partner but it's not quite the gotcha you think it is when you link something from 60 years ago, like anyone rational would pretend racism didn't exist in the 1960s
My father would have been 2 years old when this happened, this is like holding me accountable for Swedish neutrality in WW2
JerkOffToBoobs | 2 hours ago
Every 2A fan it I've ever talked to, including myself, about who should own guns has said something along the lines of "everyone that isn't a felon, especially women and people with physical disabilities." There have been a couple that don't want people with mental issues owning guns, but these are also the people who think all schizophrenics are violent. Many of them have said it is irresponsible of people who are victims of bigotry or who are more likely to be assaulted in some way to not have a ccw.
I have seen so many headlines like this one. I live in Utah, I have talked to hundreds of people about this, and none of them have said anything along the lines of "only people like me should have guns". There are some people I've talked to that think only people who can pass a very in depth background check should be able to (which ironically draws some class and race lines lol), or that nobody should be able to, but I haven't talked to anyone that has put a qualification along class lines, race, religion, creed, sexuality, gender, or physical ability on owning firearms.
Friendlyfire2996 | 6 hours ago
I have a Pride flag on the stock of my shotgun.
metalvinny | 6 hours ago
Gun culture is woke now. Cry about it, racists.
fordtuff | 5 hours ago
I'm over the moon that lefties have discovered the 2nd. Call your politicians and demand they stop pushing more gun control
Caca_Ostentatoire | 5 hours ago
Tee hee they are so afraid of me
Dull_Conversation669 | 5 hours ago
No one is terrified of you utilizing a civil right.
thomascgalvin | 5 hours ago
Pink Pistols offers a welcome environment for people who are not typically involved in gun culture to become comfortable / familiar with a weapon
Ghost_Of_Malatesta | 6 hours ago
these motherfuckers are gonna make me buy a gun
I’m done with stressin’, Get my smith and wesson, on god
WhitePantherXP | 5 hours ago
My God it would be hilarious if the left started proudly using their constitutional rights to bear arms and become proficient at them. I'm one of them, r/liberalgunowners is full of them but the left needs to stop shying away from this. Take their one "alpha male" token of identity that they hold so dear to them and make it yours, it's quite fun.
buzzkill_aldrin | 5 hours ago
Fun fact: California's strict gun control laws started when Governor Ronald Reagan signed the conservative- and NRA-supported Mulford Act (which banned openly carrying loaded firearms). It was in response to the Black Panther Party having armed observers monitor police stops, and unlike most state laws it went into effect immediately rather than the following January 1st.
EDIT: The bill was introduced a month before the Black Panthers showed up to the state capitol building—armed—and interrupted a legislative session. The urgency clause which set the effective date was added afterwards. Governor Reagan was later quoted as saying that there was "no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons".
JamponyForever | 5 hours ago
Without a molecule of irony, I promise, I bid you welcome to the Left.
VegasGamer75 | 5 hours ago
As a far-Left person whose always chuckled at the "get rid of all guns" centrist/center-left Liberals, I was thinking the same thing. A lot of people in this country only see Conservative and Liberal, and are in for a big shock when they find out the gun-believes of the actual "left".
notbudlite | 4 hours ago
[ Removed by Reddit ]
PirateEnthusiast | 4 hours ago
People like you guys are exactly why I don't trust you guns. Good on you for realizing the 2nd amendment is important.
Secret_Guide_4006 | 4 hours ago
I don’t get why she won’t just keep ammo at home. You don’t have to keep your guns or magazines loaded and you’re supposed to keep ammo separately anyways. Buying ammo at the range is hella expensive. But also I feel her on wanting the gun, right after the election results were clear in November I ordered my first gun online right before I went to sleep. I’d been thinking about it for awhile and I told myself if the fucker wins again I’ll have to buy one because things will get bad. I’m really not happy to have been right.
ugandandrift | 4 hours ago
Definitely seeing a large uptake in first time liberal owners in our city. Guns are being seen less as a left vs right issue which is great
Scummy_Waters | 4 hours ago
They'll have to take it from my warm and emphatic hands!
AirReddit77 | 3 hours ago
Gun rights were established in the Constitution to limit federal government power, not for shooting people with whom you disagree. Left wing and right wing are both simply dupes, tools, manipulated by the real enemy of The People.
steeplebob | 3 hours ago
What an excellent and well-crafted piece.
I LOL’d at “Pistol-Waving, Coastal Elite Lesbians Offed in One-Sided Firefight, Seemingly Unaware That Guns Require Bullets”, while being reminded of my gay cousin and his precious concealed carry that he ultimately used to end his life.
GenXHorror_Lover | 3 hours ago
They forget that it works both ways. We are going to arm ourselves as well, just to be safe! They definitely should be scared!
AspenSki1988 | 3 hours ago
😆
PersonalHospital9507 | 3 hours ago
Organization is more important than arms.
FSCK_Fascists | 2 hours ago
Some of us always had them. We just don't parade around McDonalds in Modern Warfare cosplay.
Swanswayisgoodenough | 2 hours ago
That's a terrible implied threat. Can you imagine how you would denigrate someone who said the same thing about liberals? Just saying we shouldn't be hypocrits. Buy a gun for self defense but don't go around telling people they should be afraid. You sound like the type who would pose in front of a mirror with their gun.
TheGR8Dantini | an hour ago
Guns are terribly powerful things. The ability to erase a life in your hand or on your hip, ankle or chest? It changes how a persons brain work, swear to god.
For some? Guns are a lifestyle. For others there scary things. The left never wanted your guns. Ever. All they ever tried to do was do something to make guns not kill innocent children while they sat like ducks. Dying from sucking chest wounds.
Most people want children alive. Not shot in school. Aged 5-18. That’s n oh t a thing that should happen. And every time they wanted to have gun control? It was bipartisan. They wanted to work with the majority of Americans to do anything to make guns safer. They never once said we’re taking your guns. Know who’s saying it? The right!! Try and go to DC with your weapon. Dare you. Remember! The military is there like an occupying force. Like Minnesota? Cities occupied? See what I’m saying? Pretti, a gun owner, legally, was executed. See what’s happening?
Know what we do know about some people and kids? They steal them, they trafficked them, they share them, they assault them, they kill them, maybe eat them. They breed them. They don’t care about you or your kids. At all. And these are the same people that want your guns.
TL:DR; iron up while you can. Both “sides”. Something wicked this way comes. We are learning how the world works. The plan is in the hands of our rulers and they’re trying to fix shit. There are no sides. No left right. Only up. The people need to just look up. If we all look up? We win. Iron up. Iron up iron up. Practice practice practice. Buy more asap, rinse and repeat. And as a 9/11 first responder? Have a go bag, lots of ammo and some kind of plan. And don’t believe the government. Look up.
RevolutionaryAd3249 | an hour ago
It's like the NRA had a point all along. Amazing.
One-Comfortable-5624 | an hour ago
Cant wait for 20 years from now when the NRA is the new AIPAC cause everyone owns guns and every member of government thinks their defending gun rights.
VarusAlmighty | an hour ago
Who rights this garbage? Author probably doesn't even talk to their conservative relatives and yet knows what conservatives are thinking ... bizarre.
Thomas_peck | an hour ago
Conservative here.
Please buy guns and learn to use them.
Please push for less gun control.
Democrat law makers are the worst enemy for 2A supporters.
humanessinmoderation | an hour ago
I mean, most of Conservatives argumentation is some version of 'Hey, x is doing/has a thing I do/have/expect, they don't deserve it and I don't like it—I'm mad.'
Example:
WeAreTheArchons | an hour ago
Everybody should be a gun owner after seeing ICE is willing to murder U.S. citizens.
timf3d | an hour ago
They never cared about the Constitution. They only want everyone to have a gun so there's a pretense to execute you on the street when the government finds you in possession of it, just like they did to Alex Pretti.
Senior_Bad_6381 | 57 minutes ago
Narrator: they aren't.
HighInChurch | 57 minutes ago
Seeing a real divide between “conservatives” and actual 2a people. Real 2a folks are pleased with the notion. Myself included.
Tenxleon | 46 minutes ago
I mean tbh I think every American citizen should be armed lol regardless of class or political party, and everyone taught gun safety and education. It’s part of the foundation of American culture.
73-68-70-78-62-73-73 | 38 minutes ago
I approve of the author's choice to arm herself. I don't approve of how casually she approaches the responsibility.
> Inevitably, the moment arrived when a child knocked over a drink on our coffee table. It was an old West Elm design with a panel on top and a storage area underneath. The spilled beverage was dripping into the seams, so a crowd of parents rushed to open the table and mop up the liquid pooling within. The first thing they saw when they lifted the panel was a padlocked gun case, helpfully identified by the Smith & Wesson user pamphlet sitting on top, which was now soaked in seltzer.
She's got kids and adults in her house who don't live there. Her gun is locked in a case...which literally anyone could pick up and walk away with. At minimum, people in her situation need to make it as inconvenient as possible to walk off with her guns, and to make them as reasonably inaccessible as possible.
> To be perfectly honest, I’d forgotten I had the gun. Ever since my wife and I moved into a place with more closet space, we rarely used the storage capacity of the coffee table.
Sometimes I forget how many guns I own, but I know where all of them are, and they're not hidden in casual storage in common living areas.
> As for my own gun, I’m more worried about the potential for an accident, and for good reason: Tens of thousands of people suffer unintentional firearm injuries in the U.S. each year. Hundreds die. If I brought bullets into my home for the purposes of self-defense, I’d have to commit to regular training to be anything but a danger to myself and everyone around me. My RFK-look-alike gun instructor recommended going shooting twice a month to be a safe and skillful gun owner. Twice a month! There are people I consider my close friends whom I don’t see that often.
Dry fire helps tremendously with muscle memory, which is ultimately where safe handling happens. I found the lack of enthusiasm about personal responsibility concerning though.
> Will I ever take that next step and buy a box of bullets? I don’t know, and I’m not entirely certain what my tipping point would be.
Ultimately, this person does not have the right mindset for gun ownership. I hope she'll come around, and it is a process for a lot of people, but right now she just doesn't have the motivation to be responsible with guns.
Accomplished-Map4802 | 36 minutes ago
Lol no
dealer512 | 34 minutes ago
The Jesse Lang issue in Canada is going to bring this subject up a lot
Crimsonwolf_83 | 27 minutes ago
No they’re really not.
kwestcolts14 | 16 minutes ago
Believe me, we’re not worried about… at all.😂😂😂😂😂
LightOk1647 | 4 hours ago
We are not worried at all about it. Who is feeding you that line of shit?
The_Pepperoni_Kid | 4 hours ago
No we aren't...
radar371 | 4 hours ago
No. No we're not.
CUDawg_30 | 4 hours ago
Pretty sure I’m not terrified of that. I doubt any other 2nd Amendment Conservatives are if I’m honest.
noncommonGoodsense | 4 hours ago
Conservatives are afraid of everything. They are the pussiest fucking people on the planet.
MickLittle | 4 hours ago
Yep. I bought my first-ever gun in November 2024. I won't be intimidated by MAGAS.
legs_bro | 3 hours ago
Yeah I’ve always thought it was stupid to let racist, sexist, uneducated homophobes be the only ones who own guns. Glad other left wingers are starting to get the memo
Devilish__Fun | 2 hours ago
Make sure you buy the appropriate ammunition. There's many variations. Get some for self-defense and some for practice.
Go practice at an indoor range. Ask for help if you need it. Be safe.
country_thyme | 5 hours ago
We’ve been waiting for you at r/liberalgunowners
Spe3dGoat | 2 hours ago
FYI the more accurate sub is /temporarygunowners
country_thyme | 2 hours ago
Will politicians ever attain such purity?
chiefapache | 6 hours ago
Conservatives arent afraid or terrified of women owning guns, just like no one is terrified if someone buys a drill press or a shovel. Guns are judt tools (along witj many other things) to conservatives. This is just more clickbait drivel from Slate
LongUsername | 6 hours ago
Really? They were certainly afraid of the Black Panthers owning them in CA in the late 60's when then Governor Ronald Regan signed the Mulford act, stating that he saw "no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons"
chiefapache | 6 hours ago
That happened 70 years ago, those conservatives a) arent alive today and b) 1970s conservatives arent the same as 2026 conservatives. Like what point are you even trying to make?
percussaresurgo | 5 hours ago
You have an incredibly short memory. Trump and his people just last month said nobody should be armed walking around like Alex Pretti was. They said it was his fault he was murdered because he had a concealed weapon while he was trying to help a woman up. This is not 70 years ago, this is now.
chiefapache | 5 hours ago
And conservatives didnt give a shit. Some huffed and puffed, but no conservative stopped supporting Trump or stopped thier own conservative grifting. No effects what so ever.
percussaresurgo | 2 hours ago
Exactly. Glad we agree.
thesil3nced | 5 hours ago
Any ccw class you take will tell you to do the opposite of what that moron did. You're supposed to have your permit on you and relay to the police immediately that you're armed...not run in between an ice agent and a woman while armed and fighting them.
percussaresurgo | 2 hours ago
I’ve taken CCW classes and never once did they say you have to tell every cop you see that you’re armed. If you get pulled over while driving it’s different, but that’s not what happened here.
Infamously_Unknown | 4 hours ago
Right, if only he was yelling at the guy emptying a can of pepper spray in his face that he has a gun...
Background-Wolf-9380 | 4 hours ago
Right. 1970s conservatives were somewhat reasonable average people who leaned right as opposed to the 2026 conservative fascists looking to violently suppress dissent and strike fear into their neighbors because they themselves are so terrified by modern life that they can't even bear to hear the facts that the rest of humanity sees clearly. 2026 conservatives will over react VASTLY more than the 1970s versions.
Kristoveles | 5 hours ago
Guns are toys to conservatives
Outsider-Trading | 6 hours ago
"Imagine how much conservatives would hate it if we just completely came over to their side on this previously divisive issue"
The inability of the left to model the conservative mindset is really something.
lordnecro | 6 hours ago
Yeah, because the left expects the right to have a similar mindset based on facts, logic, and basic human decency.
But the conservative mindset is actually exceedingly simple, it is based on emotions like hate, anger and greed.
Outsider-Trading | 6 hours ago
"Let me show you how well I understand the other side by describing them as a negative caricature"
chefs kiss
Noname_acc | 5 hours ago
Was the response you were hoping for genuine dialogue? Your initial comment doesn't really sell me on that.
Outsider-Trading | 5 hours ago
I would love to see a leftist or liberal accurately steelman any aspect of the contemporary conservative worldview.
Conservatives can easily do it the other way around, because pretty much all of us used to be liberal.
Noname_acc | 4 hours ago
Conveniently, i did just that 2 weeks ago. My steelman of the fundamental values of American conservatism:
1: Government actions taken and laws should always avoid infringing on individual liberties. Rights guaranteed should focus on what you are allowed to do and laws restricting any rights (enumerated or not) must be minimized in their scope and impact. Outside of ensuring the rights and security of individual citizens, the government should be minimized.
2: The law should treat individuals equally and impartially.
3: America is a fundamentally Christian nation of Western descent in the Liberal tradition. Values aligned with that tradition are to be held above all others. By extension, pluralism is a value held, but those individuals that would seek to contravene any values tied to that foundation must be aggressively rejected.
4: As the government of a nation, the responsibilities of the government to its citizenry supersede all others. Any rights extended to non-citizens are only extended with the understanding that they are secondary and shall not infringe on the rights extended to the citizenry
5: America, being a nation, is comprised of a specific group of people. Not just anyone can become an American.
6: Hierarchical systems are a natural and good part of human societies. While equality means all citizens should be treated equally under the law it is also important to respect hierarchies rather than intentionally disrupting them.
Obviously the American conservative movement is intensely factional and is really multiple ideologies in trenchcoat so some of these apply more or less depending on your particular ideological bent.
>Conservatives can easily do it the other way around, because pretty much all of us used to be liberal.
Citation needed. I know this is a thing conservatives like to claim is true, but from what I've ever read it is mostly nonsense. People embrace a set of values that they were raised in by their young adulthood and only significantly shift away from it under exceptional circumstances. In reality, the average conservatives read of liberal ideology is not that far off from a Ben Garrison comic.
Outsider-Trading | 4 hours ago
Honestly, good effort! I think that’s a fair analysis that covers a decent scope.
Noname_acc | 4 hours ago
I hope that this convinces you that you can have better conversations with people by starting with more positive, constructive rhetoric. People are, generally speaking, willing to talk to you like a person if you don't start off with negative, confrontational rhetoric. Even people like me who find conservatism to be an inherently loathesome ideology.
Outsider-Trading | 4 hours ago
What's loathsome about the ideology that you laid out above?
lordnecro | 6 hours ago
lol.
They voted for an openly corrupt violent serial rapist that ran entirely on a platform of hurting others. It isn't a caricature, it is a high res photograph.
Spe3dGoat | 2 hours ago
double down, so brave on reddit
you are surely spending your time wisely
lordnecro | 2 hours ago
You are right, thank you for reminding me that arguing with conservatives is not time well spent.
hotfistdotcom | 5 hours ago
Oh yeah, no, the right would never do that. Can you imagine if like, someone on the left got held down and murdered in cold blood and then the current party's top leadership said immediately they were a terrorist, refused to qualify it, or even backtrack on it? That'd be crazy. It'd never happen, let alone two times in a couple weeks. I think one of the best things about the modern conservative is not only it's ability to look in the mirror and see the truth but to also be respectful of the left, and fellow americans. It's not like even a pundit would stoop so low as to suggest deporting americans because they forgot america has it's own spanish speaking little territory.
Outsider-Trading | 5 hours ago
In a thread about whether you can accurately model how the other side thinks, doubling down on a shortlist of leftist talking points is an odd response.
How well can you steelman contemporary conservative views?
hotfistdotcom | 4 hours ago
No, sorry, are you still not reading articles? The thread is about a slate article, and responses to it. Are you really going to veer way off topic, then get mad when someone else takes that in bad faith and goes further off topic? Does that feel like productive discourse to you?
chiefapache | 6 hours ago
Make sure you bring this up in a gunfight.
Also thats just lazy generalization. Do better.
lordnecro | 6 hours ago
A gunfight? lol, what?
Nah, not a generalization, it is in fact a quite accurate representation. All conservatives need to do better.
SCSteveAutism | 5 hours ago
“We are intellectually and morally superior to you, how come you guys don’t like us?” I’m more of a centrist but this elitism and UBER-progressiveness by Democrats truly did push the Orange Man back into power.
lordnecro | 5 hours ago
When one side is actively running on a campaign of hate, and votes for an openly corrupt serial rapist, then yeah, maybe the other side IS morally superior.
I agree, the US is not ready for progressiveness. It is still a backwards place filled with hateful, racist people.
SCSteveAutism | 5 hours ago
It takes time to get people on board. You guys came out a little hot with the mutilation of children’s genitalia. Most people are naturally liberal, you have to just give them time to come around to these crazy ass ideas.
dostoevsky4evah | 5 hours ago
See, there is NO mutilation of children's genitalia happening at all, that's the facts, there is no other side to it. But the ill-informed who loathe people not exactly like themselves lean into and want to believe these untruths because it makes them feel nice. They will always get militantly defensive when anyone tries to update them because they like to feel the outrage. They don't deserve to be coddled because they aren't going to change (unless something happens to directly affect their personal well-being, of course).
SCSteveAutism | 5 hours ago
So if it’s not happening then why are there regulations being put into place to stop it from happening? https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-acts-bar-hospitals-performing-sex-rejecting-procedures-children.html
Background-Wolf-9380 | 4 hours ago
Rubbing it in is bad form for candidates and a losing political move but it's impossible to look at America right now and see that one party is vastly morally and intellectually superior to the other one.
Also, to suggest that the Democratic Party is the least bit progressive is laughable. America has only center right and far right parties in the uniparty duopoly
SCSteveAutism | 4 hours ago
Alright.
chiefapache | 6 hours ago
Im sure they will if you keep lecturing them to do better! That always works :)
percussaresurgo | 5 hours ago
“It’s your fault I’m hateful and racist, because you told me not to be.”
chiefapache | 6 hours ago
Not a single conservative quoted in the article, or any polls, or anything connecting this to conservatives outside of the title.
Outsider-Trading | 6 hours ago
Oh nooo the left are completely coming around on the 2A noooo. You know how they could terrify us even more? Become serious about 1A, and be proud of Western civilization. THAT would be scary!
nabokovsnose | 6 hours ago
I’m sorry, what? The left historically and currently has cared plenty about 1a. Unlike this current administration and its thugs.
Outsider-Trading | 5 hours ago
>The left historically and currently has cared plenty about 1a.
I actually laughed. Imagine if you got deplatformed from reddit, Youtube and twitter for "woke speech" and the right constantly decided that more and more things were "woke speech". The left has never known what it's like to be shut out of speech, because the right is actually consistent in letting you speak your mind, even when the right is in power.
nabokovsnose | 4 hours ago
Oh, I see, you don't know what the first amendment is. Carry on.
Chaseism | 6 hours ago
Many of us aren't anti-gun at all. We just understand that guns are dangerous objects and likely should have some regulation around them. Here in Ohio, it's easier to get a gun than it is to drive a car. And I don't know if you've met some folks from around here, but some of them should not be given a firearm.
rand0m_task | 51 minutes ago
Well… excluding suicide… cars cause twice as many deaths to Americans….
Chaseism | 7 minutes ago
Which is why America should also heavily invest in public transportation.
But going along the lines of this, heart disease kills almost 6x as many people as Alzheimer's Disease. Should we drop all funding for it and put it towards heart disease instead? Heart disease kills more people than cancer too. Should we end cancer research? Of course not because we don't just tackle the biggest problem, we tackle all problems.
And if it's helpful, guns are the number one cause of death for children. I don't even like kids and I think this is a very sad statistic.
People can own guns, but reform would be great. National background checks, mandatory gun safety courses, mandatory lock boxes, and gun licenses don't seem like a major ask given that to own a car, I have to take drivers training, have insurance, and renew my license. And let's bring back duty to retreat while we are here.
breakwater | 4 hours ago
Why should they be terrified?
AOneArmedHobo | 4 hours ago
Conservatives have had guns for years and we use them, regularly. We aren’t terrified of anyone buying a gun, and taking an 8 hour training course. Have you ever shot a deer, an elk? Have seen what a bullet does to flesh? Are you ready to handle that?
SlyFunkyMonk | 4 hours ago
Conservatives live in a perpetual state of self-inflicted terror.
FailedToRemit | 3 hours ago
No they aren’t.
Nofanta | 3 hours ago
lol they are in NO way terrified, they are happy for you
Spe3dGoat | 2 hours ago
literally no one cares that you are arming yourself lol
Fucked-In-The-K-Hole | 2 hours ago
Lmao that was always allowed. No one on the right cares that you bought a gun.
Irishwildcard2346 | 2 hours ago
Nobody is terrified you're buying guns. I think most people welcome responsible exercise of 2A rights.
Major_Shlongage | 2 hours ago
No.
Conservatives (who are very pro-gun and many profit from the gun industry) are absolutely not afraid of people like her buying guns.
This person is trying to give themselves importance and set a "defiant" tone instead of acknowledging what conservatives have been saying all along- that you can't trust your government and that the 2nd Amendment is important because of this fact.
connordavis88 | 2 hours ago
Buying a firearm responsibly and developing a hobby for going to the range will get you off of the internet, at which point you'll meet people outside and find out that the world isn't that bad and people aren't the evil demons Reddit convinced you they were
Be safe
WhitePantherXP | 5 hours ago
This is a great way to get them uncomfy and less excited to profess their gun obsession, if they saw blue hair at their local range they'd never come back. Take up the hobby, it's quite fun as a secondary benefit and good to be proficient if things continue to escalate.
n00btox86 | 3 hours ago
Trans people mowing down school children in Canada, meanwhile lesbians are asking, 'How can I make this about me?'
MS-18E_Kampfer | 5 hours ago
Yes that basic handgun that you got "just in case" and took 1 training class with is gonna be enough to defend yourself with from authoritarians. 🙄 Most of these new liberals are gonna a fudd ass mindset that make them ineffectual liabilities.
Eeyores_Prozac | 4 hours ago
Girl, the fucking GOP cucks aren't doing jack all against authoritarianism, and I assure you, many of them have rocks in their head about basic gun safety. You can look at any video of ICE goons with trigger discipline worse than the Keystone Kops.
MS-18E_Kampfer | 4 hours ago
In that hypothetical scenario where ice goes after regular people that people so afraid of, do you believe libs with a handgun is gonna be enough when those goons come knocking with body armor and AR15s? Hell even maga civilians probably would back em up and would probably have FRTs in their ARs. That just in case handgun owner aint doing shit. Trigger discipline aint keeping you from getting mag dumped.