The editor of a leading American magazine about guns has been forced out of his job, after publishing a column that proposed some regulations on gun ownership.

Guns & Ammo editor Jim Bequette resigned on Thursday, saying he had been "untrue" to the publication's commitment to the Second Amendment. The publication already had planned to replace Bequette with a new editor, whose 1 January start date has been moved up.

"I made a mistake by publishing the column," Bequette wrote in an apology to readers, in which he also announced his resignation. "I thought it would generate a healthy exchange of ideas on gun rights. I miscalculated, pure and simple. I was wrong, and I ask your forgiveness."

The offending column, by veteran gun writer Dick Metcalf, was published in the magazine's current December issue, under the headline “Let’s Talk Limits”. He wrote:

Way too many gun owners still seem to believe that any regulation of the right to keep and bear arms is an infringement. The fact is, all constitutional rights are regulated, always have been, and need to be.

That bit of Second Amendment heresy, and the furore it brought down in the comments section, led the magazine’s publisher, Chris Agnes, to announce that Metcalf would no longer be writing for Guns & Ammo. But readers were not satisfied.

"So Metcalf gets fired for something the editor approved and printed," said "senior member" DanChamberlain in the Guns & Ammo comments forum at midday. "Seems like there should have been two firings. Seems also, like G&A has a real editorial idiot at the helm."

The criticism amplified displeasure that had built up in gun enthusiast websites for a week. "Anyone who says 'I believe in the Second Amendment but...' does not believe in the Second Amendment," read a typical post at thetruthaboutguns. "They are not friends, they are not frenemies, they are enemies of The People of the Gun."

Bequette's replacement has been named as Eric R Poole.