Gun Rights Advocates = Bigots

So it came to my attention the other day that since I am a gun owner that in many people's eyes that in some way makes me a bigot.  I have been told this time and time again in relation to the fact that I am a white male that has served in the military, hence I must be racist and gun crazy.  The fact is myself and many like me (and by that I mean gun owners that served, not white people) are nothing of the sort.  I am an educated man who after retiring from the military continues to serve his community like many others.  I volunteer will my local school district, I am a president of a PTA in a very high poverty level school, I am part of a council that helps transition schools to title 1, I also am a volunteer for the American Red Cross.  All of these positions are non-partisan and neutral, however yet again people paint me as a "wacko" or worse because I believe in protecting the rights of gun owners.  This is the farthest thing from the truth, my belief in protecting gun rights is the same reason I believe in protecting the 1st Amendment, or any other that guarantees our freedoms.  Restricting any of our American rights only puts the power in the hands of those that abuse it in the first place and they will not be hindered by stricter regulations on guns only law abiding citizens will be and then it will be harder for people to protect themselves.  So if you are going to label people and state incorrect information you should probably do as your mother told you and "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all".  Lastly if you are going to come out on social forums and spew out garbage like this then be prepared to have your very public statements be criticized and take it like a man instead of continuing to berate people and using vulgarities to try and tear down a person who does not have the same views as yourself, I mean its just plain common decency, which apparently is lacking nowadays.