a story about control

I have learned to love my dad even though we are very different and he has learned to love me. He is born again, loves 45, conceals and carries, has long hair, a long beard, and is no slave to fashion.  You would not believe he was even related to me by looking at him. Picture a grumpy old man with a limited perspective glued to Fox news with an opinion on everything. I only called because i wanted to check in and catch up. he said the usual things at first like “how is work?” i said, “good. We have a contract coming up.” for years as an adult i have been so careful to avoid the landmines/triggers with him whenever we talk because i don't want the conversations that we have to be arguments. I need to spend time with him not resenting him plus i have just been so tired and stressed out with midterms in school, always behind on sleep. So I can't explain why but at some point i ask "why can't the people who love guns so much just give up the automatic weapons? Don’t you have like a million other guns left to choose from?" I have been actively seeking answers from the people in my life who disagree with me about automatic weapons. I try to understand that point of view but I am still totally mystified. I am growing more and more confused, saddened, disgusted, disappointed, and unhinged. he said he knows for a fact no one will ever give up their automatic weapons if it comes to that. I said "what about you? As a Christian. You would murder someone who was enforcing the letter of the law taking one of many registered firearms you own? He said "yes without question." i said "i have never been more disappointed in you," and started sobbing. It was devastating. I guess i already knew this but it was difficult to hear. I think he was stunned. He was quiet then he started to say something like "what are you going to do when they outlaw h0m0sexuals in this country? You’re going to wish you had a gun." then i said "I AM NOT AFRAID. WE WILL DEFEAT THEM AGAIN AND WE WILL DO IT WITHOUT F*CKING GUNS!" it was an amazing conversation. I said "i thought you knew about the Holy Spirit? I will pray for you,” and he said, "I am sorry if i let you down." then i responded, "i have asked for your unconditional love my entire life and i will give you back my unconditional love my entire life." and he said, "so will i." I said, "you're the only Dad i have. It’s not easy disagreeing with you." Then he said this and it broke my heart: i can't lose you too. Shocked i said, “what?” He said most of his friends are sick or have died recently. I said, “i am not going to let this come between us.” i really do feel better having said what i said. He knows how i feel but we also both said ‘i love you’ like 10 times. Then i hung up and cried some more. I have more to say about other topics but not enough time right now to write it all down. I don't want to argue with anyone about gun control but I hope we can all agree we don't want any more innocent people murdered and we need a solution.