Are we paranoid about issues such as these? Maybe, but it’s difficult not to be. The “they’re out to get us” mentality is a tough one to get around, because there’s so often ample proof that every time gun owners and shooters give an inch, the proverbial mile is taken. I applaud your insightful response (and doubly your politelness to the employee when you ended the conversation–lots of folks could learn from you). Stay vigilant, stay polite, stay involved, talk about your observations here and other appropriate places, and fight the good fight the right way.

As for your comments about political screeds and wanting to read about guns and shooting, I fail to see where this article was NOT about guns and shooting. Was this an editorial? Absolutely. But this is a blog, not a gun or products review column, and I have a reasonable amount of freedom to choose what topics to write about.–there are ample gun writers out there covering every new gun, box of ammo, and latest gear to hit the market (including other bloggers and authors on the Gun Digest site), and while I may eventually insert such reviews from time to time, it’s unlikely such essays will be the meat and potatoes of my essays. Personally, I try to find something different each time I put something up, something that will resonate somewhere, sometime, across a wide variety of gun owners and recreational shooters and promote useful conversation. To that end, it’s just fine that you didn’t appreciate the topic I covered here. Others did. Nobody can please everybody all the time, including me–but I don’t go out of my way to spare anyone anthing except insult or injury. And, so, while I hope you’ll join me here occassionally to read about the guns and shooting issues that mean something to you, it’s also okay to “turn the channel” when I don’t.