The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - The odd man out

JuanCarlos · April 7, 2009, 01:45 PM

I don't think this thread is long for this world anyway, peetza. It's largely off-topic to begin with, and bound to remain so.

Jofaba, you aren't alone. There are pro-gun folks of all stripes out there, and even a few (like myself) in here. I fall almost entirely in the Democratic camp except for gun issues...I won't pretend to be a libertarian, or classical liberal, or fiscal conservative but social liberal or anything but a gun-totin' somewhat moderate liberal.

The reason you'll often find it boil down to Republican versus Democrat is because, at the end of the day, our government is driven by a two-party system. Regardless of where you fall on a large spectrum of issues, eventually you have to go participate in an election with only two candidates that have any real chance of winning. That's not changing absent some serious changes to the electoral process.

A (in my experience relatively small) minority of gun enthusiasts are going to fall into the quasi-liberal (in the modern sense) camp...and many will wind up either supporting Republicans anyway (for gun rights) or just keep quiet (for their own sanity). A larger minority will be libertarian-types, but it seems like many of them will still vote Republican because at the end of the day they're more concerned about gun rights and (slightly) more limited government than the principle of maintaining a bunch of rights they don't intend to exercise. The rest will just tend to be Republicans, largely because the parts of the country where firearms ownership and use are still common tend to also be largely Republican.

April 7, 2009, 01:45 PM	#25
JuanCarlos Senior Member Join Date: July 22, 2006 Posts: 2,459	I don't think this thread is long for this world anyway, peetza. It's largely off-topic to begin with, and bound to remain so. Jofaba, you aren't alone. There are pro-gun folks of all stripes out there, and even a few (like myself) in here. I fall almost entirely in the Democratic camp except for gun issues...I won't pretend to be a libertarian, or classical liberal, or fiscal conservative but social liberal or anything but a gun-totin' somewhat moderate liberal. The reason you'll often find it boil down to Republican versus Democrat is because, at the end of the day, our government is driven by a two-party system. Regardless of where you fall on a large spectrum of issues, eventually you have to go participate in an election with only two candidates that have any real chance of winning. That's not changing absent some serious changes to the electoral process. A (in my experience relatively small) minority of gun enthusiasts are going to fall into the quasi-liberal (in the modern sense) camp...and many will wind up either supporting Republicans anyway (for gun rights) or just keep quiet (for their own sanity). A larger minority will be libertarian-types, but it seems like many of them will still vote Republican because at the end of the day they're more concerned about gun rights and (slightly) more limited government than the principle of maintaining a bunch of rights they don't intend to exercise. The rest will just tend to be Republicans, largely because the parts of the country where firearms ownership and use are still common tend to also be largely Republican.