Let me give a pair of anologies, if I may:
Here in Colorado, local media has been giving some attention to the recovery of a college football player who survived a severe car accident. As I understand it, his entire family (including aunts, uncles, etc) has been by his side through everything he has faced since first arriving at the hospital. Broadcast from his hospital room, a reporter asked the young man's mother why everyone was always there. The answer feels apt to this discussion:
"You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."
The 2A/RKBA movement has often proclaimed the Second Ammendment insures all of the Constitution is safeguarded - yet when some application of the Constitution is slighted, avoided, trampled, the RKBA community has not been showing up en-masse to right the wrong, heal the wounds.
Without consistent, persistent, large-scale proof (non-violent, and resolute) of the highly held value and personal priority of the Second Amendment in its role as the glue, the safety net for all of the Constitution and hence all of the Republic, the Second Amendment and the entire Constitution continues to be eroded, ignored, bypassed and broken with nigh impunity regularly.
Yes, GLBT rights are completely relevant to gun rights - just as are the rights of any to cherish and practice the religion (or not) of their choice, and so on.
Peoples of the RKBA community, to my way of thinking, should have always been and should now be the first, always in the forefront as guardians of this wonderful Republic - whether the issue is one you believe in, or not. When communities voted to reject PATRIOT, where were the hundreds, and the thousands of cheering gun owners dancing in the streets? I think you get the point.
I fear that RKBA and all gun owners will taste the bitter reality of "And when they came for me, there was no one left. . ."
'Molon Labe' is stirring, something that I believe intuitively connects all who cherish the inherent rights we celebrate.
Let's demonstrate another one:
"You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."
'We' are "The People." We are the absolute owners and hence the absolute keepers of this Republic, created by the word and spirit of the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution - inclusive, without exception, down to the simplest phrase. It's a gift of incredible greatness - so failing to live up to those responsibilities as our first priority everyday lessens all of us, I think.
Diversity is our strength, if we, the people, are all Americans equally.
My second analogy: Colorado has seen and endured devastating wildfires (as have so many other states). People fled, and others were evacuated, relying on someone else to stop the flames, to feed and protect them - and it was done. Had some stayed and tried to bunker down and protect their individual homes in the face of a firestorm they would have perished.
In such a crisis, people look to emergency services to save & protect them.
With other crises, are we (generically) resting on our laurels, only using harsh language while writing checks to organizations to do our work (such as is comfortable) in our stead - and no more? Isn't that just another flavor of the 'paternal' mindset, so derided on these boards?
When the Mississippi broaches its banks, all hands turn out to man the sandbag lines. . .
(shrugging, sighing quietly)
Maybe all hands will try and finally appear only when catastrophy laps at the door.
I need more coffee. This has gone long, far more so than I intended when I set out. I guess I just can't leave well enough alone?
Trisha