Huh, ok, I get your metaphor now. Which is (I think) that an organisation which works for "everyone" can still have a particular focus. And I guess if the ACLU tried to defend ALL civil liberties equally it would end up fracturing along "liberals who can't stand guns" vs "conservatives who can't stand porn" etc lines, and there are organisations like the NRA to fill in the gaps.

Still, I wonder how civil liberty loving conservative gun owners feel about this organisation for "everyone" not really speaking for them(*). And does the ACLU charter have anything directly implying the whole civil-liberties-does-not-mean-less-gun-laws thing, or is it just an organic growth of the focus of the organisation? Does it say, in effect, "We value our identity as a predominantly liberal community"?

I think I'm going to have to ponder this whole OTW thing some more. Hmm. Still, afaict the ALCU's choices seemed based on ideology, while a lot of OTWs feel more like cliquishness and "If I don't find it interesting it doesn't count". But I may be reading too much into things.

(*)It feels odd to try to put myself in the mindset of a civil liberty loving conservative gun owner but such exercises are good for the mind :)