The new anti-gun-control meme: The US should be more like Switzerland.

[branford]

49. The problem with many Democratic proponents of gun control

is that they assume (or, more accurately, accuse) anyone who supports broad gun rights as being a RW troll (or "gun humper," "child killer," "ammosexual," ...).

I very glad that you explicitly acknowledge that there's a critical mass of genuine Democrats who support an interpretation of the the Second Amendment consistent with very expansive and liberal personal rights understanding of every other Amendment of the Bill of Rights and rest of the Constitution (including people like myself, a liberal NYC attorney who's never owned a firearm).

The failure to acknowledge the broad range of opinions concerning gun rights within the Democratic Party, and the resulting alienation of a great many Democrats, has been a significant contributing factor in Democratic electoral losses that imperil a broader progressive agenda. People fail to remember that even Bill Clinton acknowledged that his gun control agenda and signature Assault Weapons Ban, which the Obama DOJ found did nothing to prevent gun crime or accidents, cost him his Democratic majority in Congress (and unseated a Democratic Speaker!), very likely lost Al Gore his home state of TN in the presidential election, and the "shellacking" Democrats have recently taken across the South and Midwest, both federally and in state legislatures and governorships, truly speaks for itself.

I would additionally note that the actual Democratic Platform recognizes and individual right to own firearms, and the very strict gun control position of many Democrats on DU departs significantly from our Party standard, often far more than many gun rights proponents on this forum who are rarely, if ever, as absolutist in their positions.

Of course, you or others may believe that the Second Amendment is ludicrous or outdated and our culture supporting gun rights is uncivilized or self-destructive, but the habit of demeaning and dismissing other Democrats who don't share such opinions is not only juvenile and rude, it ultimately supports opponents of our Party and those who fight against more general liberal policies far more than the most vociferous purported "RW, gun rights troll" n DU.