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...we don't need a left vs. right or a democrat vs. republican or conservative vs. progressive or pink vs. blue or communist vs. patriot or red vs. blue or anything like that. We need to all just be Americans and debate issues and problems as Americans, instead of as some arbitrary side.
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This assumes that the divisions you describe are arbitrary. I think the values people bring to issues are not arbitrary but pivotal.
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The people that hate guns aren't democrats or communists or pinkies or leftists or whatever: the people that hate guns are generally the pig headed and the uneducated. That doesn't mean that the other camp (of which I assume we all belong, which is a much better educated guess than to assume all of us on here are "conservative") doesn't have its pigheaded. We need to unite under issues and specific problems, not some banner that's marked by a political party.
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Why?
I would caution against assuming that people whose conclusion you do not share do so primarily from ignorance. To paraphrase RWR, it isn't what we do not know that gets us in trouble; it's what we do know, but are wrong about. You can be very smart, but still have values and socialisation that turn you away from valuing the role of armed individuals in a society.
If a you only mean that people are ignorant and "pig-headed" generally ab out everything, I concur generally but don't think it sheds light on this issue specifically.
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But my major point is this: who the hell cares if you're left or right, what matters is the issues. You can be pro-choice, pro-gun, pro-welfare and still support troops, as such: you can be pro-life, anti-gun, anti-welfare and still support troops or any combinations of the options. Either way: you're still American. This article just further pigeonholes gun owners as one side vs. the other in the "left vs. right" debate.
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It seems only reasonable to note who usually stands with you and who against. It doesn't make them an enemy necessarily, but it does indicate some underlying difference that can be interesting to address and useful to identify.