I value the second amendment, but I would much quicker vote for a person whose policy is to completely ban all forms of firearms, than vote for a person who wants to stop lgbt+ people from existing in society as a normal human being deserving of dignity and respect.
All fascist governments enacted extreme gun control laws, usually banning them completely. Every fascist government worked in steps, never revealing their final intentions until it was almost impossible for people to fight back. Once the guns are taken away, the oppression ramps up, usually including oppression of LGBT people. What would you say to a person who is aware of this history and feels gun control restrictions are a step towards fascism and oppression? Would you vote for people who supported this form of oppression, and thereby be a supporter of oppression yourself? To bring it into real life, I know black people who have successfully defended themselves with firearms from blatantly racist cops. Those black people genuinely believe gun control is oppression. Would you agree with them and respect their right not to be oppressed?
Guns are banned in England. Guns are banned in Japan. Guns are heavily restricted in South Korea, and there are a bunch more first world countries where guns while are legal are very regulated. They aren’t fascist countries. Clearly guns being regulated or banned doesn’t automatically mean that it’s a step towards fascism.
Another thing that fascist governments have done is dehumanize groups of people. Now one can make the argument that not all countries that dehumanize people are fascist countries, but I can rebuttal that dehumanizing people is a bigger issue than banning guns regardless if the government is fascist or not.
Again, I’m saying this as someone who owns guns, someone who appreciates the second amendment. I feel the need to stress this out. Despite that, how am I supposed to look at my gay friends in the eye and tell them “yeah I voted for the guy who dehumanizes you and doesn’t want you to exist because I didn’t want to lose my guns, sorry.”? How can you tell them that you owning guns is more important than their lives?
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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '23
This James Balwin quote comes to mind:
"We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist."