Dear Law Abiding Gun Owners:

I know you're out there. I hear about you every time there's another massacre some place in America. I believe you exist. I know people who hunt. I don't understand them, but I know them. I know target shooters, too; I've done that myself and I get it. Truly, I do.

So here's the thing. The ball is in your court.

You're the only ones who can do it. Nobody listens to liberals on the issue. Congress is bought and paid for, where it isn't abjectly terrified. You're the only significant block of voters with the power to force the issue of actual American carnage.

As should be clear by now, the NRA's agenda is not your own. The NRA is the lobbying arm of the armaments industry. It has that industry's interests at heart and not your own. Either wrench the NRA back to its original purpose or pull out of it, all of you.

I promise you this. Nobody is going to come grab your guns, no matter what Wayne LaPierre says. It's impractical, for one thing. You will still be allowed to shoot at targets and ventilate large fauna. But you have an obligation to the country now because you're really the only people who can swing us back to sanity.

Use your power. Save lives.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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