I’m a progressive who believes in sensible gun control and I also own a shotgun and a handgun, and the two things aren’t mutually exclusive.

I live in an open carry state, however I don’t feel a psychological or political need to walk around with a gun to establish my Second Amendment credentials.

I don’t measure freedom by how many citizens walk around with gun. If I visit a town where most people are toting assault weapons or handguns, I’m not thinking, “This is a cradle of liberty and freedom, I’m moving here.”

I feel safe with my loaded firearm under my bed, but I don’t feel the need to take it with me wherever I go. I rely on the police to serve and protect me with I’m out in public, but I rely on my guns to protect me when I’m home until the police arrive.

Republican men (I’ve never seen a woman in public openly carrying a gun) who worship guns and brandish them to compensate for their physical shortcomings are giving the Second Amendment a bad name.

Guns shouldn’t be a phallic symbol or an object of worship, they are simply tools to be used for hunting and self-defense.

I remember a time when almost everyone had a gun but nobody bragged about how many guns they owned, and they certainly didn’t walk around strapped.

I will feel safer when there are less idiots walking around carrying assault weapons, and speaking about their weapons in reverential terms.

More gun control. More firearms training. Less open carry states. Less gun worship.