When I saw the title of an op-ed on NBC News, I had to wonder what was up. I mean, it almost sounded pro-gun, like it wasn’t going to tell us all about how evil guns are and how we should capitulate with the demands of our anti-gun betters.

Then I read it.

Frankly, it really is kind of pro-gun, though not as pro-gun as a Bearing Arms post or anything.

Here’s an example:

The debate’s results are now aggravatingly predictable: The boisterous neighbor shuts downs — or shouts downs — all arguments when the citified coworker demonstrates that they have little understanding of an impressively simple tool. (A clip isn’t a magazine, the “AR” in AR-15 isn’t an abbreviation for “assault rifle,” etc.) The pedantic tactic, as perfectly described by firearm aficionado Adam Weinstein, is “gunsplaining.” For someone trying to make a larger point about gun violence, gunsplaining can be infuriating but, for someone with a passing familiarity with guns, the audacity of a liberal trying to make a larger, sweeping point without knowing some of the basic concepts or having any hands-on appreciation can be equally so.

Pro-gun people ask why they should listen too hard about sensible gun reform — like fixing the abysmal background check system and criminal gun tracing, actually allowing meaningful research into gun violence — when not only are basic terms misused by gun reform advocates, but general facts about firearms are glossed over in favor of fear of the unfamiliar. The number of school shooting victims has gone down since the last 20 years; handguns, not “assault rifles” are the weapon used most often in firearm-related murders; the majority of gun deaths are suicides.

The issue of gun control and rights is complicated. Less complicated is just giving the actual shooting a shot. You may experience a funny, tingling sensation that its actually fun, and that’s perfectly normal! But shooting a gun also has the added benefit of giving you more of a leg to stand on the next time a gun debate inevitably comes up.

What’s that? NBC News admitting that shooting can be fun?

Absolutely!

Now, you may also notice that they managed to find a pretty mild gun enthusiast to write this post, one more than willing to give in to the anti-gun harpies prattling on about things like “sensible gun reform.”

I hate to break it to you, but there is no sensible gun reform. The only way to “fix” the background check system and the gun tracing system is to create gun registration, either explicitly or a de facto variety. As we’ve seen, registration serves to make confiscation easier and, frankly, no one else has to register their ability to exercise their God-given rights. Why the hell should we?

As for “meaningful research,” people like this author tend to forget that the CDC has been conducting gun research for years. All the law prevents them from doing is using research to intentionally push an anti-gun agenda. Based on what we’ve seen from the AMA recently, that’s probably a wise limit.

The thing is, it doesn’t bar anyone from conducting research, nor does it quash research that may give results that might support gun control if that’s where the data lies. What it does is merely block tax dollars from going toward research geared toward helping to sell the American public on legislation that takes away their rights.

Period.

As for the post itself, well, it’s NBC News. It gets into a little NRA bashing at the end and promotes groups that it calls “demographically friendly,” namely the Pink Pistols. Once again, trying to divide LGBT gun owners from the rest of us, but the fact of the matter is that no one gives a damn if someone is gay, lesbian, trans, or whatever when it comes to range time. If you’re safe and want to shoot, have at it. Who you prefer to sleep with or anything like that is pretty irrelevant.

But, again, it’s NBC News. It’s what they do, even in an ostensibly pro-gun article that calls anti-gunners to task for not remotely understanding the topic in the first place.