Liberal Gun club has 1000 members

[spin]

80. I'm an older Democrat who comes from a long line of gun owning Democrats ...

I have enjoyed target shooting handguns for well over 40 years and have a small collection of firearms including a couple of bolt action rifles and a coach gun. I also have had a concealed weapons permit in Florida for the last 20 years.

While I do not support another useless assault weapons ban, I do favor improvements to our current gun control laws such as improvements to the NICS background check system and universal background checks on the sale of all firearms. I would like to see people required to show proof of firearm safety training when they purchase a firearm or ammunition.

Our party is supposed to be a big tent but I have watched our Party adopt a strong anti-gun position over the years. For this reason I have seen many people who are gun owners leave our party and become single issue voters who refuse to vote for good Democrats. This has cost us elections at the local, state and national level.

I often talk to gun owners about politics and it is surprising how many agree with me on many issues our party supports. Unlike the popular stereotype that I see posted here, most are not racist nor do they hate gays. Gun owners are not all conservative Christians and many are atheists or agnostics. Nor are they uneducated red necks. The majority that I have known have college educations or technical training and they usually hold well paying jobs or run their own business.

Of course I live in the gun friendly state of Florida. I worked in a highly technical industry in the Tampa Bay Area for 37 years before I retired. The majority of my co-workers owned at least one firearm in their home. A fairly high percentage had concealed weapons permits. Most of my neighbors were also armed. If you live in a gun unfriendly state with strong gun control laws, you might find meeting gun owners far rarer.

I find the propaganda from the NRA and other even more conservative gun groups such as the GOA increasingly vile so I support the idea of a Liberal Gun Club. I hope it catches on and grows in size to match the NRA.