Speaking of guns and Rocky Mountain politicians....

This exchange happened at the Sept. 23 public debate in Butte for the U.S. Senate seat in Montana:
Jon Tester, Democratic challenger: "I don't want to weaken the Patriot Act, I want to repeal it. What it does, it takes away your freedom ... and when you take away our freedoms, the terrorists have won."
Later in the evening, when Sen Conrad Burns (Republican incumbent) tried to link him to New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is, Burns said, pro-gun-control, Tester replied: "With things like the Patriot Act, we'd damn well better keep our guns."

As I said in my Sept. 24 post, I'm not a gun guy. As the full weight of Tester's words sink in, I may have to reconsider.