What Is A Gun Nut?

Earlier today in response to a post that I placed on Facebook (Gun Nuts STILL Not Getting It), I was asked what exactly is a gun nut?

A lot of times, especially in political arguments, names get thrown around to the point that no one really knows what said names really refer to. Honestly, I have never really given thought to what the phrase "gun nut" truly means despite having heard it numerous times, which is why I generally do not use that specific term. This begs the question why I used it this particular time?

First off, this is an obviously subjective assessment since I am sure "gun nut" is not really in any dictionary.

If you actually go to the post (linked above) and watch the embedded video, you will see a prime example of what constitutes gun-nuttery. In the video is a man who, after what happened in Connecticut last week says that there should be no gun laws at all. Zero. Zilch. None!!! In essence, he is saying that everyone should be able to have guns, no matter what kind of gun, no matter how many guns, and all of those guns should be allowed everywhere.

This particular extreme is not the threshold for what a gun nut is. More generally, a gun nut could be anyone who reflexively balks at the idea of even reasonable gun-related laws and says that such laws are an assault against the second amendment to the United States Constitution. One could also say that a gun nut is someone who in the wake of a mass shooting proceeds to blame a host of things and people but will not blame access to guns at all, someone who does not recognize the role that guns and access to them plays in the losses of life in mass shootings. However, my aforementioned use of the term, given its radical nature and the emphatic way in which this man advocates for there being ABSOLUTELY no gun laws, more than suffices for the use of the phrase "gun nut" to describe him.