Column: Conservatives are terrified that people like me are buying guns now. Maybe they should be.

[RandySF]

Two years later, as anecdotal reports tell of record numbers of LGBTQ+ people seeking out firearms for self-protection, I think back on that moment as a foreboding encapsulation of the dissonant reality we now inhabit. We film ICE traffic stops outside queer parties before going back inside to dance. We use our gay group chats to plan outings to the bar, and also to share packing lists for go bags. In the morning, we get tipsy at a birthday brunch, letting our children defile our friends’ furniture. In the evening, we research golden-visa options in case the government tells us those children are no longer ours.

In the shadow of Donald Trump’s second term in office, and amid the clear threat and increasing reality of political violence, some queer friends are learning to handle firearms, purchasing new weapons, or researching rifles for defense. Together, we talk through worst-case scenarios that would have seemed fantastical just months ago, imagining ourselves into a million futures that seem possible and unthinkable in equal measure.

Sometimes we don’t even have to imagine. Last month, Renée Nicole Good, a queer mother and poet, was shot to death by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis. Afterward, another agent dismissed her as “that lesbian bitch.” The message was not subtle. Her sexuality was deployed to justify her killing, casting her as a queer agitator who had been put in her place.

If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would one day keep a handgun in my D.C. row house, I would have laughed in your face. If you would have told me five years ago that I might take reasonably seriously the possibility that a real-life scenario might someday incite me to use it, I would have called you insane. But the social and political conditions of American life are changing with alarming speed.




https://slate.com/life/2026/02/gun-range-safety-gay-lesbian-lgbtq-trump.html

[Buckeyeblue]

1. The question is what is the violence you're preparing for?

Keeping a gun in your home suggests some sort of home invasion. It seems to me that most violence that people encounter is often sudden and without warning. The only way to be truly prepared is to carry the firearm at all times. And training. Not just target practice. But training your mind to think clearly in a sudden violent situation. It's a commitment and you'll probably change as a person.

Anything short of that makes the gun a placebo.

That's why I don't have a gun. I'm not ready for that commitment...yet.

[Oneironaut]

2. They see LGBTQ+ people as an enemy they would massacre when "The SHTF."

It’s been in the Conservative mythos for decades. The other side isn’t supposed to have guns because Conservatives associate guns with power. Also, they dream of eliminating groups of people and recognize that those groups owning guns would make it harder to do. It’s not a rational line of thinking, but, they have these weird gun fantasies in their head.

[Ferryboat]

3. I would suggest reading a book, On Killing by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman

The psychological cost of learning to kill in war and society.
Grossman is a very controversial figure in law enforcement circles. Many law enforcement agencies forbid their officers from attending any training under Grossman who promotes the "Warrior ethos".
I found it extremely disturbing when I was reading it. But it was very informative even though the subject matter is so disturbing.
I grew up hunting so rifles are my thing. In 2016 I purchased handguns for self defense. Never needed them before. But the level of craziness has only gone up since 2016.
I am under no illusion what would happen if I were foolish enough to actually use them. Nor should you.

[RandySF]

4. I abhor guns, myself.

But watching civilians mowed down in the streets for no good reason is giving me pause.