I recently bought my first (of many) handgun (Walther PDP Pro!) and I don’t regret it one bit. I live in a very conservative area and I’ve heard some deeply alarming things said to me in a completely casual way and I felt that I needed a way to protect myself and my wife. That part I’m not torn on.
The part that gives me pause is how every aspect of gun ownership and culture is so overwhelmingly right-wing coded that it starts feeling disgusting just being a part of it. The stupid macho nonsense, the marketing playing to deranged paranoia (there are marauders around every corner! Fear! Be scared! Buy our products!), the general gun-humping vice signaling (seriously, why are people sending Christmas cards where everyone in the family is holding guns. What’s the connection?), even the overuse of the word “tactical.”
I was watching a YouTube video the other day with some beginner tips that was otherwise neutral, and some of the comments were completely unhinged. It seemed like a bizarre mismatch but when I looked up the guy it turns out he’s a Christofascist nutjob and I was disappointed yet again.
Honestly I’m not even sure what point I’m trying to make, I guess I’m just rambling. I’m glad this sub exists because otherwise it feels very lonely to be pro-gun and also be a leftist.
— Billlington in New to guns, and I have some thoughts
[h/t Rob Romano]