You can own a gun, and you can hate groups of people without going to jail, but you should not be allowed to do both. There might be a role for private ownership of guns in the executing of justice, but there is no role in executing hate. If you hate, you should not be allowed to own a gun, even if you hate groups who also hate. If you hate, don’t tempt fate.

Any responsible gun owner should know this. If your neighbor owns a gun and starts ranting about who should be shot in this country, that is grounds for laying down that weapon. Maybe not legal grounds, but moral grounds. If someone walks into your gun shop spouting hate language, you should turn them away. Not on legal grounds, but moral ones. If you would chalk it up to idle chatter, remember Orlando.

Legally we can use background checks as a means to identify hate wherever we find it: criminal records, psychological diagnoses, outrageous public proclamations. Yes, even speech might betray how a gun owner could be dangerous. It is not the right to bear arms we question, but the right to bear them with hate. If you hate, don’t tempt fate.

And it is not against the law to hate if you don’t harm another living being, but it should not be allowed to hate and own a gun.  Should we hold a gun owner to a higher standard than the rest of the haters? Of course! The gun owner has lethal power. The gun owner can kill in an instant. That is a heavy responsibility. If you hate, don’t tempt fate.

Unfortunately there is much to be angry about, whether you are a gun owner or a gun reformer. Sometimes the reformers hate the owners. But the reformers are not as dangerous, because they don’t own guns, or at least they shouldn’t if they hate gun owners. Hate is the fuse to the bomb.

There is lot of sanctioned hate in this country, whether of Muslims, of LGBT persons, of politicians, of judges, of opposing teams. Hate is being stoked through political campaigns. It drives people to the polls to keep their hated candidates out of office. It drives people onto soccer fields to hurt the opposing teams’ fans. Some might call it “legitimate hate.” But don’t tempt fate.

Potentially hate places a lot of people on the wrong side of background checks. We want to be armed against those we hate. We want the right to protect our family against those we hate.  We want the right to blow away anybody we hate. Sorry, that is not included in the Second Amendment. Free speech, yes. Legal gun ownership, yes. Hatred with gun ownership, no.

Background checks, absolutely! Gun-dealer restrictions, without a doubt!  Gun buy-backs, weekly! Heart-to-heart talks with friends, please! It is too late to wring your hands after the carnage. It is too late for the hundred cut down in Orlando. Whether it be necessary laws, awareness campaigns, or earnest advice, it is required where hate is concerned. If you hate, don’t tempt fate!