Readers my age or older probably remember that there was a time during the sixties and early seventies when the right actually embraced gun control. The reason for that was quite simple; our TV screens were filled with images of left-wing groups, particularly African-Americans, brandishing guns and talking openly about violence. That was not a coincidence.
Today, ostentatious gun ownership is effectively a monopoly of the right. We are currently being treated to the spectacle of impromptu right-wing militias attempting to prevent state and local law enforcement officers in a number of jurisdictions from enforcing virus-related restrictions. This activity is likely to get worse before it gets better; it isn’t too difficult to imagine it extending to polling places during the November election.
At some point, the left is going to get tired of being pushed around by right-wing thugs. If we remain on our present course, we are going to see the left arm in retaliation, and we may even start to see political violence on the streets. I really, really hope that doesn’t happen, but as long as Trump is on the scene egging on his “Second Amendment people” and rejecting the legitimacy of any Democratic government, it could.