hell,, I'm liberal as fuck all,, and I'm fairly certain that the assault weapon idea is malarkey. The only thing in favor of getting rid of them is that idiots think they look tactical and mean, so they might pick one of those instead of a standard rifle of the same caliber.

besides, I'm a constitutional liberal. I hold the core values of certain inalienable rights to be self evident. I include the original bill of rights in that overarching umbrella of "don't screw with these". a liberal with a gun is much harder to strip of their rights than one without them (on the small scale, we're all screwed on the big scale).

damn, I remember back in the day when gay rights weren't even a factor in the public mind having to do security at a gay bar down in the city. more than once it was me packing heat that kept good, relatively law abiding and completely non violent citizens of our great union from getting beat to bloody ribbons by groups of redneck idiots too large to otherwise combat.

You teach a drag queen to shoot straight (see what I did there?) and you've just effectively increased the security of them, their boyfriend, and the whole glitter splashed dance crew with them.

this is an ugly, violent world. that ain't changing any time soon. I don't reckon it ever will, people being how they are. The fundamental right to defend oneself, family and home are essential to being human. In a world where weapons exist, stripping any but the most destructive weapons from citizens is folly. anyone who thinks otherwise had never been jumped by a dozen drunk asshats in a truck. You ain't fighting that many bare handed. You ain't doing it with a knife, a bat, or brass knuckles.

Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and even Chuck Norris... okay, Chuck could do it, but otherwise when you're dog piled by a bunch of violent, aggressive goons, you'll understand better the beauty of at least semi automatic fire.

having a gun, even military grade, isn't about the daily need for protection. You can do that with pepper spray or whatever. It's about when the excrement his the air conditioning. You seen riots on tv, right? you think a mob fifty or sixty strong is going to leave you be because you're waving a friendly flag? or because you voted their way? nope. they'll leave when they find superior combat materials directed at them. if you're lucky the cops will roll in with tear gas, water hoses and meanness. if you aren't? well isn't it a shame you never learned how to maintain, fire, and therefore safely own a nice rapid fire rifle.

pisses me off though. I try to vote progressive and liberal, but too often those words are poor descriptors of a group that just wants to impinge on a different set of rights. It's a shame that every candidate for the last twenty years has been a compromise for me. vote my heart? impossible.