So, yesterday on my facebook newsfeed I ran into one of those "My right to have guns is so I can fight against tyranny" guys, so I asked "Just how many U.S. Army soldiers or local police do you intend to kill, anyway?" I've been making a point of asking them this question in just those terms.
His answer was typical of the sort.
"As many as come to my house to take my guns or infringe on my liberties!"
My son-in-law is an Army soldier. My step-father is a Sheriff's Deputy. I myself spent time in the military. My wife's uncle is a cop. My ex-wife's mom was a Chief of Police.
Myself, I'm fairly anti-police in general. I've seen too much bullying behind the cover of a badge. But people who think they have the right to judge the constitutionality of orders given to police and soldiers, that this imagined right of theirs is so profound that they have the right to kill cops, Army soldiers, Navy sailors, U.S. Marines, National Guardsmen, just because they think those uniformed agents of government are doing something unconstitutional...
No one should let anyone get away with saying "I'll kill as many cops and soldiers as I want because they're infringing on my freedumb".
And don't mistake, when they talk about having guns to protect themselves from "tyranny", that is exactly what they are talking about. Killing cops. Killing Army soldiers. Killing National Guardsmen.
This has nothing to do with high capacity ammo clips or assault rifle bans, nothing to do with registering guns, or regulating them at least as much as we regulate, say, automobiles.
It has to do with people you know, friends and neighbors, who think they have the right to kill other people who they imagine are infringing on their "liberty".
Not standing up and calling that what it is just encourages it.
Don't let people say this sort of thing without challenging it. Because the mentality of this "I have the right to kill for my political views" mentality is what resulted in the Oklahoma City bombing and a dozen other militia movement terrorist acts before and since.
Don't just let it ride because the person who's making terroristic threats is a friend or relative. Call them out on it. Make them think about what they are actually saying.
My three grandkidds don't need to see their daddy killed by some self-professed constitutional law expert who thinks that guy in uniform is coming to infringe on him somehow.