Gun control is bad for gays? Shhhh, don't tell Republicans:

A law professor at the University of Minnesota, Dale helped Gays & Lesbians for Individual Liberty (GLIL–a gay libertarian group of which yours truly is a member) and Pink Pistols, “an international group . . . advocating gun ownership and training in the proper use of firearms by gay people.”

With nearly “one-third of anti-gay bias crimes [occurring] in the home,” the D.C. gun ban is particularly pernicioius as it “forbids the effective possession of firearms for self-protection.” Dale concludes:

. . . for many other gay people, especially the ones living on the margins of life in crime-prone or anti-gay areas, owning a gun is one important part of a comprehensive plan for protecting life and property.

Gun ownership might at the very least give [gay people] peace of mind. And widespread knowledge that many gays are packing might give their would-be attackers second thoughts Gun rights are gay rights.

Given the lower crime rates in states with concealed weapons laws and the persistence of hate crimes even in states with Hate Crime statutes on the books, I wonder if opposition to gun control may be a more effective means of stopping hate crimes that such statutes.