Yep. At the foundational level liberalism and the subset of political conservatism known as libertarianism seem to agree on lots of major issues. My earlier quote from John Stuart Mill expressed my basic belief, but as I re-read it after many years I noticed that it sounded awfully conservative!

I believe I am about to change my position on gun ownership (not that anyone cares!). This is good. I will now fit in better down here in the South. :-)

I just wish the more neolithic of the population of gun owners wouldn't get so verbally murderous from time to time. If they take joy in the thought of turning their guns on liberals and minorities, it doesn't auger well for the future of the country. Since The US doesn't have a real political Left, there's only one way the place can go if the US enters a Depression and the poor get desperate--further Right. And that road leads ultimately to fascism. It did in Italy and Germany in the 1930s Depression, anyway.

Of course, online outbursts like I originally posted about might be nothing more than classic male bluster.