Eugene Volokh makes a very astute observation about opponents of guns, who cite “gunpowder lust” as a pejorative reason to describe why Americans like guns. Eugene writes, specifically about opposition to Olympic target shooting:

Dismissing respect for the sport, and the desire that children have an opportunity to learn about this sport, as a manifestation of “gunpowder lust” strikes me as a form of prejudice against guns that’s hard to rationally defend.

The same is true, though for other reasons, when people dismiss support for private gun ownership as “gunpowder lust.”

When I read Breyer’s opinions in Heller and McDonald, I see this seathing gunpowder hatred.

The hatred of guns is seething, not rational, and hard to defend. It is possible, and indeed reasonable, to have disagreements about the proper scope of regulations of guns and ownership in America. This is one of the reasons why Adam Winkler’s new book is so cool. He engages the issue on a fact-based approach without all the heated rhetoric.