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Karen McLellan's avatar

This is one of the best articles I've seen on this topic. It takes a lot of moral fortitude to stand up. My father - one of the most manly, super athletic, masters of pelvic sorcery and all things testosterone I've ever known - was taken hunting by his dad when he was eight. Dad just couldn't shoot a beautiful, harmless bird for sport. Granddad called him a sissy until his death from cirrhosis 10 years later. Dad became the "man of the family" supporting his mom and younger brother until my uncle graduated from college.

Dad went in the navy and graduated under the GI Bill. I suspect he did a lot of macho stuff in his life to orove his dad wrong. Thank you!

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Momma Nancy's avatar

I am a die hard liberal, academic, and citizen of a purple state although where I live locally it’s very, very red. Guns were never part of my life until my partner and I went to a resort that had a shooting range and we thought, why not? Let’s try it. So we did some skeet shooting with shotguns and guess what? It was “a blast” (pun intended) and also my partner was really, really good (prior army training). We decided that shooting sports would be something fun we could do together, so we bought 2 shotguns and joined the local shooting club. It opened up a whole new activity for me and I met a few great people. We never, and I mean NEVER talk politics. Lately, however, I’ve gotten a little more hesitant to visit the club because our personae and car are coded, “liberal.” And I get a little nervous now that polarization has grown so, even since 2020 when we first

joined the club.

On the other hand, it is also weird being one of the outliers—a Democrat who owns a gun. I’ve had a few conversations where other liberal folks were taken aback. It’s like everything’s fine until I mention I like to shoot skeet and own a gun. Instantly, I’m suspect in their eyes. They cannot quite accept that I actually have the same beliefs and values they have, with the exception that I like to shoot at little clay “birds.”

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