As governor after governor declares gun stores as essential businesses, there are those who disagree.

Honestly, that’s fine. Disagreement is healthy. The last thing we really need on most issues is a national echo chamber. However, it’s almost comical how anti-gunners continue to beat this particular drum.

The latest example of this comes from Newsday where our journalistic betters have decided to tell us just how stupid we are to disagree.

We’re in the midst of a pandemic, with residents in many states around the country — including California — under orders to remain at home except for essential trips to essential businesses. A run to the drugstore for a prescription is still allowed, for obvious reasons. So is going the grocery store to stock up on food. But how about a quick trip to the nearest gun shop for a new .38 and some ammo? Should that be allowed when we’re all being told to stay home? Well, according to gun advocates — including, naturally, the National Rifle Association — it should be. They are pushing for shutdown order exemptions for gun shops, arguing that they provide an essential service during a pandemic. That’s ludicrous. Unless you plan on shooting those little coronaviruses one by one, no, gun shops are not providing an essential service during a pandemic. They are profiting from the marketing of fear _ get armed now before the desperate hordes invade your neighborhood in search of toilet paper!

Again, the National Rifle Association does not profit from gun sales. They’re an advocacy organization, not an industry organization. The fact that a member of the L.A. Times editorial board doesn’t understand that is telling. (He works for the L.A. Times but this was published at Newsday.)

I also note he plays the whole “shooting the virus” joke that anti-gunners use to feel oh-so-clever.

Look, are there going to be desperate hordes? I mean, I’ve mentioned them before. Are they going to be a thing? Maybe, but probably not.

Yet you’re a complete idiot if you’re willing to trust your family’s safety to just “probably not.” After all, people like this writer are also all about destroying small businesses permanently because someone might get a disease while there, though they probably won’t. You’d think he’d understand the term “caution.”

However, let’s also face the fact that our economy is about to go into the toilet. At this point, it’s only a matter of just how much fecal matter is already in the bowl. Bad economies can result in desperate people committing crimes in an effort to feed their families. That’s especially true if these lockdowns become even more prolonged.

But hey, you’re just delusionally paranoid for wanting a gun at a time like this, but he’s totally not for wanting to completely destroy people’s livelihoods over a virus that can be avoided with some changes in behavior.

Anyone else sniff the BS here?

Meanwhile, gun rights are an essential liberty that should not be infringed. It says so right in the Constitution. It doesn’t provide for circumventing those rights because some people got sick. Especially when people are still wandering around grocery stores, handling all kinds of things then putting them back on the shelf, and things like that.