E.J. Dionne: The gun supremacists’ folly

[DirkGently]

1. Yes. No one else thinks that guns = freedom.

That is not what the Second Amendment was about. It was not the way things were in the past. It is not the way other freedom-loving democracies think about weaponry. NO ONE thinks guns are supposed to be a hedge against government you don't like or cultural influences that frighten you. A religion has been created in our country for the express purpose of selling huge amounts of firearms. It is a fundamentalist religion, and it recognizes no moderation and brooks no dissent.

And already we are seeing what the practitioners envision for our future. You can stalk and harass a kid until he fights you, and shoot him. You can fight about cellphones in the theater, leave, get a gun, come back, and shoot the person if they shake their popcorn too "threateningly." Rap music too loud? Gun. You can get a bunch of friends together and draw down on federal law enforcement from sniper positions, and set up checkpoints, over some COWS.

We have a crazy cult of violence and death brewing here, and at some point we're going to need to do something about it.

Sooner would probably be better than later.