一名前共和党人抨击保守党选择出卖“真正的爱国主义”来支持唐纳德·特朗普总统领导下的“枪支崇拜”。
在周一发布的一系列推文中，美国海军战争学院教授汤姆·尼科尔斯哀叹枪支文化似乎正在“从共和党的一个角落”传播到特朗普领导下的整个保守党。
尼科尔斯写道:“即使当我是共和党人的时候，我也从来不理解那些以我们多少人带着枪四处走动来衡量自由的人。”在共和党人允许布雷特·卡瓦纳夫被最高法院确认后，尼科尔斯与共和党分道扬镳。
这位教授说，在特朗普执政期间，“枪支文化从共和党的一个角落传播到了整个保守时期”，这似乎是一种日益增长的“文化变革”
这位前共和党人表示，推动这一转变是保守派需要在“向特朗普出卖如此多的爱国主义”后，重新定义爱国主义的含义
“枪支崇拜的传播是保守的美德信号，”尼科尔斯解释道。“我在老部落的时候从来不喜欢这样，随着‘保守派’试图找出新的标志来证明他们是‘爱国者’，情况变得更糟，因为他们不得不向特朗普出卖太多真正的爱国主义。”
尼科尔斯发表此番言论之际，持枪权利活动人士高举两名保安人员的英雄主义，他们在德克萨斯州怀特定居点的一次教堂礼拜中枪杀了袭击者，作为在全国范围内扩大枪支使用的理由。
“一名持枪歹徒向德克萨斯州一个白人定居点开枪，不到三秒钟，一个持枪的好人拦住了他，”枪击事件发生后，美国国家步枪协会在推特上说，随后认为“2017年德克萨斯州法律的重大变化”使这次抓捕成为可能。
用枪支武装“好人”公民来解决枪支暴力的论点远非新鲜事。然而，持枪权利活动人士已经把周日的事件作为在全国范围内扩大枪支使用的进一步理由，在袭击者被阻止之前，有两人被杀。
尼科尔斯说，订阅枪支文化似乎已经成为“对‘保守主义者’的试金石”，他说，“这告诉你保守主义的一些悲哀之处。”
“我小的时候，每个人都有枪。我的大多数邻居。老师们。(那时有更多的老兵。尼科尔斯说:“但这不是‘我去喝咖啡，带着枪是因为该死的，我是美国人’的文化。
“我的共和党投票家庭和朋友从来没有谈论过枪支，”他继续说道。“我们为什么要这样？”
“在所有拥有枪支的工人阶级中，谈论很多枪支是很奇怪的。你有他们，那是你的权利，你把它留在那里，”教授写道。“我们没有用是否要去面对70年代我们教堂周围的黑帮来衡量我们的价值观。
他说:“我对崇拜枪支的人感到不舒服，我觉得需要一天24小时都在附近，不是因为枪支，而是因为我对崇拜枪支的人感到不舒服。”。
新闻周刊已联系尼科尔斯、共和党和白宫发表评论。
唐纳德·特朗普总统于2019年12月19日在华盛顿特区白宫艾森豪威尔行政办公楼南法庭礼堂举行的白宫心理健康峰会上发表讲话后挥手致意。一名前共和党人警告称，特朗普治下的“枪支崇拜”已经“变得更糟”。
FORMER REPUBLICAN SAYS 'GUN WORSHIP' HAS 'GOTTEN WORSE' UNDER TRUMP AS CONSERVATIVES STRUGGLE TO REDEFINE PATRIOTISM
A former Republican has blasted Conservatives for choosing to sell out "actual patriotism" for "gun worship" under President Donald Trump.
In a series of tweets published on Monday U.S. Naval War College Prof. Tom Nichols lamented how gun culture appears to be spreading "from a corner of the GOP" to the entire conservative party under Trump.
"Even when I was a Republican, I never understood people who measure freedom by how many of us walk around with guns," wrote Nichols, who parted ways with the GOP after Republicans allowed Brett Kavanaugh to be confirmed to the Supreme Court.
The professor said under Trump there appears to be a growing "cultural change" with the spread of "gun culture from a corner of the GOP to the entire conservative moment."
Driving that shift, the former Republican suggested, was a need among conservatives to redefine what it means to be a patriot after having to "sell out so much actual patriotism to Trump."
"The spread of gun worship is conservative virtue-signaling," Nichols explained. "Never liked it when I was among my old tribe, and it's gotten worse as 'conservatives' try to figure out new markers for what makes them 'patriots' now that they've had to sell out so much actual patriotism to Trump."
Nichols' comments came as gun rights activists held up the heroism of two security workers who took down the attacker in Sunday morning's shooting during a church service in White Settlement, Texas, as an argument for expanding access to firearms across the country.
"A gunman open-fired at a White Settlement, Texas church, and within three seconds, a good guy with a gun stopped him," the National Rifle Association said in a tweet in the wake of the shooting, before crediting "critical changes to Texas law in 2017" for making the takedown possible.
The argument for arming "good guy" citizens with firearms to address gun violence is far from a new. However, gun rights activists have latched on to the Sunday incident, which saw two people killed before the attacker was stopped, as further justification for expanding firearm access across the country.
Subscription to gun culture, Nichols said, appears to have become something of a "litmus test for 'conservatives,'" which, he said, "tells you something sad about conservatism."
"When I was a kid, everyone had a gun. Most of my neighbors. Teachers. (Lots more veterans in those days.) But it was not a culture of 'I went for a coffee and wore my gun because damn it, I'm an American,'" Nichols said.
"My GOP voting family and friends never talked about guns," he continued. "Why would we?"
"Among the working-class guys who all owned guns, talking a lot about guns was weird. You had them, it was your right, you left it at that," the professor wrote. "We didn't measure our sense of worth by whether we were going to go face down the gangbangers around our church in the 70s.
"I'm uncomfortable with people who worship guns and feel the need to have them nearby 24/7 not because of guns, but because I'm uncomfortable with people who worship guns," he said.
Newsweek has contacted Nichols, the GOP and the White House for comment.
President Donald Trump waves after speaking at a White House Mental Health Summit in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House on December 19, 2019 in Washington, D.C. A former Republican has warned that 'gun worship' has 'gotten worse' under Trump.
