By now, we know that anti-gunners can be a bit hysterical. They see any gun-shaped object and freak out. Take what happened to a gubernatorial candidate in Kansas.

Now, Kansas is a pretty gun-loving state, all things considered. It makes sense that a Republican candidate for governor would want to signal his respect for the Second Amendment. For candidate Kris Kobach, that included riding in a Jeep with a replica gun mounted on it.

https://twitter.com/KrisKobach1787/status/1002991690217598977

Note, however, that he’s very clear. It is a replica. It’s not a real M-2 machine gun.

That doesn’t matter when the anti-gun lynch mobs are out in force, though.

The politician faced major backlash for the controversial prop, with many replying to his tweet with scathing criticism.

“You are clueless using a machine gun in a parade that appeals to families, Children are scared to go to school and you cram this scene in their faces,” one user responded. “I will do everything in my power to make sure you never set foot in the Governor’s office.”

“What an embarrassing display for an embarrassment to this state,” another person wrote.

The city that hosted the parade issued an apology, but I’m completely flabbergasted by that.

Again, it wasn’t a real firearm. Are even replica guns off limits now? Will that be what’s next after the anti-gunners round up all the real firearms? They’ll go after non-functional decorations?

Not that it should matter. Kansas is a permissive state when it comes to guns. You can openly carry a handgun or a long gun without a permit, which is good. Kansas doesn’t require a permit for carrying a gun in any manner. In other words, even if that had been a real Ma Deuce, it’s perfectly legal.

Kobach did absolutely nothing wrong. To his credit, he seems to know it and is refusing to back down.

https://twitter.com/KrisKobach1787/status/1003427616370675717

Frankly, the man has a point. This is an attack on our Second Amendment rights.

These attacks are just more examples of the stigmatization of gun owners that I’ve been going on about for so long now. The issue is that Kobach isn’t trying to hide his support for the Second Amendment. He’s flaunting it in front of everyone by riding in a Jeep with a replica firearm, and that’s unconscionable to them. The anti-gunners simply can’t tolerate someone not bowing to their desires.

As a result, they attack. They ignore the fact that the reason children are afraid to go to school is due to the near-constant coverage of school shootings, not the actual risk of one happening. That doesn’t matter. They have to blame guns for that.

And here comes Kobach, admitting that he supports gun rights, so they attack.

Their effort is designed to push other candidates into more subdued support of the Second Amendment, which will also be unconscionable soon enough. They’ll keep pushing and pushing until gun owners are afraid to admit to being gun owners. They’ll push it until we’re considered too fringe to be taken seriously.

Then they can do whatever they want, and people will be too afraid to even stand up to them.

So yeah, this attack on Kobach is an assault on the Second Amendment.

In the meantime, though, I kind of wonder how much this outrage has ultimately helped his campaign. It’s not like the people screaming were going to vote for him anyway, but they might just motivate others to vote for him out of spite.