That title you just clicked on contains two words you generally don’t see describing each other in this country: “liberal gun-owner.” It’s unusual, but yeah, it’s what I am.

I grew up in a very, very conservative area right in the middle of Pennsylvania – this place is as red as a fire engine. Every pickup truck has an NRA sticker on it, the Gadsden flag (“Don’t Tread on Me”) is a common pairing with the rebel flag on people’s flagpoles, and it seems like damn near every household proudly displayed Trump/Pence signs in their yard – and still do. My parents, however, don’t quite fit the mold of the area.

They always raised me in a background that wasn’t necessarily liberal, but naturally questioned the way of things around us. When I grew up and became politically active, I followed my heart and mind on the issues in our country, and I found myself on the left on most political questions.

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Unlike most liberals, I’m a gun-owner. I think the nice thing about growing up in such a conservative area – despite having to grit my teeth and hold my tongue when around the old folks’ casual, everyday racism – was that I could see the other side of the issues. That’s not to say they all convinced me, because they certainly didn’t. But it did give me some insight and appreciation for how those on the other side of the aisle live. My extended family on my mom’s side were no strangers to guns. Any time at family gatherings, they were just always around, and I never thought anything of it.

Of course, I was always taught to respect a gun – “always treat every gun like its loaded and could kill” – and guns that were around were always safely stored, so I never felt threatened by them.

Since I was 10-years-old, I participated in Civil War reenactments, so historic firearms were just another part of my life. When I was old enough, that of course led me to getting my own firearm – a reproduction Union army Springfield rifle – and I’ve been a gun-owner ever since.

I wouldn’t classify myself as a “gun nut,” or “ammosexual” as I’ve heard them called. But I appreciate firearms. I enjoy a trip to the range and I geek out over old guns. That said, my stance as a liberal gives some nuance to that appreciation for guns.

Here are five things I’ve come to believe as a Bernie-voting, healthcare-reforming, education-funding, pro-choice, rifle-appreciating gun owner:

1. The right to bear arms is necessary to our nation…

I’m not really the religious sort, so I often joke that, making my career in the study of American history and politics, the United States Constitution is my holy scripture. I know, that sounds cheesy as hell. But really, the Constitution is something sacred to our nation. Yes, we can amend it of course, but it is the highest law in the land. Thus, the Second Amendment is included in the list of rights I consider necessary to who we are as Americans. In the historical vision for our country, our people are to be beholden to no tyrant or dictator – and I agree.

The people are to be the ultimate power in a republic like ours, and a government should absolutely be bound by that power. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in D.C. v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms – not a collective one. I disagree with what Scalia wrote 99% of the time… but I have to agree there. Some people argue that the Second Amendment only supports the right of the states to organize a militia (“a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State…”).

But I must concur that as free citizens, we have a right to self-defense. The individual right to bear arms, in turn, gives us that right.

2. … But let’s not go overboard.

Though I believe that we all should have the right to keep firearms for defense, for hunting, for sporting, and simply to remain free and sovereign individuals, I also believe there need to be limits. The Supreme Court has ruled through our history that rights can be limited at times. For instance, the great Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. says that, sure, we have the right to free speech – but you can’t just walk into a crowded theater and yell “fire” just because you feel like it and there isn’t actually a fire. That’s how you get people hurt or even killed.

There are times and places where rights have to be limited, and I believe the same for the right to bear arms. What do I mean by that? I mean that there are things that we just don’t need. We sure as hell don’t need things like rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and submachine guns. We don’t need handguns with high-capacity magazines (on that note, my fellow liberals need to learn that clips and mags are not the same thing). We don’t need to open-carry our brand-new Glock at our kid’s U-5 soccer game. That’s just asinine and dangerous.

Now someone’s probably thinking, “Brandon, we don’t keep military-grade firearms and ammunition just to go hunt deer with. It’s for if the worst should ever happen and we need to defend ourselves from a tyrannical government.” This leads me to my next belief.

3. I seriously, seriously doubt that our military is gonna come “take our guns.”

All through the Obama Administration, I listened to Tea Party folks back home rant about how Obama was inevitably going to come take our guns. Most of this was just swagger from wannabe cowboys wearing shirts from the NRA that say, “You can take my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands.” Almost as if it was a miracle, big, bad Obama never came with his jack-booted thugs and took all our guns.

Now, listen, I don’t claim to have all the answers to things. I’m just one guy with his thoughts. But here’s why I never bought into that “from my cold, dead hands” bullshit. Let’s just assume that the Tea Party’s wet dream/nightmare somehow happened and Obummer (insert other trite Tea Party nicknames for Obama here, e.g. O-bomb-us, Obozo, Obama bin Laden, O-dumba) really had wanted to come take our guns. How’s he gonna do that exactly? My man Barack is pretty in-shape, but he’s not going to go around to every household in America, fight people, and take their guns all on his own. A dictator would use the military. Here’s the trouble with that though.

Who makes up our military? Party members who have taken an oath to obey the President and uphold an ideology? No. Our military is made up of people just like us – our own sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers – who took an oath to uphold the Constitution. If they ever received such an order, it would be flatly disobeyed. In fact, they would be duty-bound to disobey such an order. Plus, I mean, the military has a really strong conservative skew anyway. I’m not buying into any conspiracy theory that involves these folks “comin’ ta take our guns.”

4. We liberals, often times have no idea what the hell we’re talking about when it comes to guns.

I admit, I’ve really had to shake my head sometimes when I listen to my fellow liberals talk about firearms. Not because I necessarily disagree with what they’re saying, but just because it sounds like we have no idea what we’re talking about. As I mentioned earlier, a magazine is not a clip. An assault rifle is not the same thing as an “assault weapon.”

AR-15s are semi-automatic guns (one trigger pull, one bullet) that honestly just have a needlessly scary-looking design. Every big scary-looking gun is not an AK-47. I’m not just saying all this stuff to be an ass – I’m saying this because if liberals want to have an actual conversation with conservatives on guns, we need to actually know what we’re talking about. Conservatives aren’t going to take us seriously if the only thing we know about guns is that some go “pew,” some go “pew, pew, pew,” and some go “PEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEW.”

I agree, we really need to have some reform on gun laws in this country. But we can’t do that if we don’t actually understand what it is we’re trying to legislate on.

5. Guns are a responsibility and must be respected… and it’s because of people who don’t understand that, that we have so much gun violence.

I totally agree with my fellow liberals when they say our country has a “gun culture.” You’re damn right we do. When we were kids, we played cops and robbers. Growing up, we played violent video games, and we watched violent movies. Do other countries have those things? Sure. But you have to admit, there’s something starkly different about our country and the way our culture sees guns.

I think the big problem is that a lot of people on both sides of the political spectrum, in rural and urban settings, from all backgrounds, don’t have a proper respect and understanding of the responsibility of a gun. All I ever heard back home was how the only gun problem we have as a country is gang members in cities walking around with pistols stuffed into their waistbands. I’ll say right now, one of the biggest crime problems in our country right now is the illicit sale of handguns in cities. Yes, cities absolutely have higher murder rates from guns. But the view that gang members have of guns is almost the same sort of view that a lot of hardcore gun nuts have. They fetishize these things, and they imagine themselves as gunslingers or something. That gets passed on to our kids.

That’s not the way we need to picture guns. A firearm – whether it’s a shotgun, rifle, handgun, or historic weapon – is not a toy or piece of jewelry you wear on your hip. It is nothing less than a device with the ability to kill. It needs to be treated as such. How should we treat guns then? I believe that we need to institute universal background checks, and I’m definitely not the only gun owner is okay with that. I believe in mandatory training courses and periodic psychological evaluations when you get a gun. We have these things for when you get a license to drive a car, don’t we? Because cars, if in the wrong or untrained hands, can kill. Guns are the same way. When someone mishandles a gun, people get hurt or killed.

When someone with severe mental illness gets a gun… I don’t think I need to say what can happen, and it makes my heart heavy to remember how many times it has happened to this country only in my lifetime.

Guns are a huge question on the mind of our country, and I find myself sort of in the crossroads of that question. I’ve found because of how I grew up and who I am today that we’re not going to come to any meaningful solutions on the issue of guns if the left and the right can’t sit down and actually talk about it.

I’m a firm believer in the concept of deliberation and compromise. We Americans come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and the only way we can live together in peace is if we all strive to understand each other. Lifelong resident of the suburbs, try to understand why the humble man from the country sees his hunting rifle as part of his way of life. NRA member, try to understand why the woman from the bad part of the city who has lost family members to gun violence is terrified of firearms.

We will not be able to answers the questions before us if we don’t try to listen to the other side. I’ve just spoken for a while, and you listened. Now, go try to listen to some other folks. Listen to people on the other side, and let’s see what we can learn from each other.