You read that right. I am a gun toting democrat.

More importantly, I am not the only one. See, the rumor that has circulated for as long as I can remember has been: “(Insert Democrat’s name here) is coming to take my guns.” Take it from me, a Democrat in rural Georgia, Democrats hunt just as much as their Republican peers, and protect themselves as much as anyone else.

It’s easy to see where the stigma on firearms began. Thetrace.org says, in 2015, approximately 13,000 Americans were killed due to gun violence. Accompany that with the increasing number of mass shootings both domestic and abroad, and a troubling picture begins to show. However, no politician wants to institute a full out gun ban (regardless of the memes your uncle posts on Facebook).

So what do us “gun toting Democrats” want? There are many different ideas out there, but they all seem to have the same underlying theme. Keep guns away from bad guys, make sure that those who have them are responsible and educated gun owners.

Personally, I believe that high capacity magazines should be limited to police forces. Many of my friends say they use them to hunt. If you can’t hit the deer in 13 shots, you’re probably not going to get it on the 50^th either. Plus, where is the sport in firing that many rounds?

When you turn 16 years old, you have to go take a test to be able to drive on the road. Not just for your safety, but for the safety of the general public that you will be sharing the road with. However, you don’t have to pass or even take a test in many states to purchase a firearm. I believe that we should require the public to qualify with a weapon before being allowed to own the weapon or possess a weapons license. We require police officer and military to qualify with a firearm before they are allowed to carry it, and they must renew that qualification. Why are we not doing that for the public? No legitimate, responsible gun owner would object to a day on the range.

One of the biggest issues we hear about our assault weapons. While I personally do not see a need in owning an assault weapon, I will give that people do enjoy them. However, should we not require a special license for these weapons? The same guy that owns a 9mm hand gun can go purchase an assault weapon, without a class, without any knowledge of the weapon. In addition to that, many states allow the sale of armor piercing rounds to the public. What is the need for the public to have such ammunition?

So no, we don’t want your guns, we don’t want to get rid of the 2^nd amendment. We want to make sure that gun owners are responsible. We want to make sure you buy your gun from a reputable dealer, and close loopholes such as the gun show loophole, which allows someone to buy a gun without even a background check being done. We want you to be able to defend yourself, just as I, the gun toting Democrat does. But we want to make sure you know what you’re doing before being allowed to have an item capable of ending someone’s life, whether on purpose, self-defense, or as all too common, an accident.