There are certain demographic strata that I no longer engage in the debate on guns. This is the group that would sell internal organs to strip the population of personal defense. They will always vote against your concerns and will never really be swayed by any stellar conduct you espouse. You're a "gun nut," and you have to be stopped.
Warm summer days for riding are too scarce for me to waste hours of senseless debate.
But to be fair, I also avoid that other radical strata which is unfortunately in our fold.
These are the guys who bury cases of 7.62x39 just for "the big one with ultimate world order." The guys with cammie underwear. Our dutiful friends with the bumper sticker "I'd rather be killing." The sterling divorced parent who hasn't seen his kid in six months but has bequeathed new mats to his dojo. The braggart in our midst who tells tales of making guys "kiss the pavement" but is totally lost kissing a girl.
These guys pay us no service. And the media is always ready to interview some toothless trailor park resident about freedom and firearms.
Our letters to the editor should be polite, not strident, and we should monitor our own discourse.
For example, I have plenty of 'firearms,' 'target pistols,' and 'hunting rifles.' And while everything in my collection can be a weapon, you and I both know the intended design.
Having said that, and while carefully monitoring my daily meds, I am still to be known in the press as that "psycho armed biker." I believe now, in later life, that this is a debate whose venue must be chosen with great care.