Salon has posted an op-ed on the subject of gun control by D. Watkins here, but be warned—the logic is tough to follow, and the grammar suggests that the publication no longer employs editors. The main takeaway is that Watkins wants “gutless NRA cowards”—by which we’re pretty sure he actually means all gun owners—to be shot before they’re allowed to buy guns.
Yes, we understand that he’s being satirical, although this conceit really isn’t funny or illuminating. But after listing a number of historical figures who were shot—it doesn’t matter to him how or why—Watkins posits that people who are pro-gun are “… just like the people who were in favor of slavery back in the day …” This kind of rhetoric isn’t just extremist; it offers no solutions and has no purpose but to promote hatred and further polarize the nation.
