You know ... we don't help our own cause in a lot of ways.
Chest Banging:
Now I peruse some of the anti sites and never see posts on TFL or others cited, but with some of the stuff I see here they sure could be. On the old packing.org site there was a guy who promoted using a gun immediately when threatened, irregardless of the posture of the attacker or how it changes, and shooting them even on the ground until they "quit gurgling." Basically, he truly was promoting vigilantism, because that's what you have when use of force becomes more than just self defense/stopping the attack.
Overly Judgmental:
i.e. passing judgment on the 70 year old Texas man who shotgunned the intruders into his neighbors house and saying it's OK if he's prosecuted. Now don't get me wrong ... if he really did stride out there and blow away two men who posed him no threat then that is murder -- murder with mitigating circumstances, but murder nonetheless. But all the comments about what he said, his actions, etc. ... while no one who spends time on boards like this (all of us internet self defense law experts) would say or do such things, this guy probably wasn't a reader/poster here. So he's got a shotgun in his hands, he sees 2 guys violating his neighborhood and his friend's house, and rather than stand there passively waiting for the slow arriving police he takes action. He said some provocative things on the phone, but think about it. It's not like he was driving around looking for trouble, he was protecting his community. And if those guys did charge at him or turn aggressive in any way ... he did the right thing, irregardless of the "television learned" macho things he said while building his courage to act. I'm sure this man will not go to prison, but all of us on this board, while we talk about the mistakes he made, should defend his actions until it's determined he gunned down men who were complying or fleeing.
Defining liberty by what tools are available:
I'm all about gun rights, but a gun is just a self defense tool. Losing any given tool does not take away your right to self defense or your liberty overall. 300 Million People can overthrow a government of a few hundred thousand irregardless of weapons available. Whether or not I will automatically turn in all my guns if they are demanded tomorrow, or do like many canadians and hold on to them as an act of defiance, or take some other action, remains to be seen and I'll not be making macho statements now. The chances that I will turn my house into a suicidal standoff so I can keep my .357 is extremely slim (they'll have to take my guns BULLETS FIRST!!). it won't do much to save me or mine from the BATF SWAT team, and while I'd fight any anti-gun laws, the bottom line is I'm not going to miss watching my girl's grow up to defend my pistols.
My .02 ...