When Mark Kelly (shown), former astronaut and husband of Gabby Giffords, the former congresswoman from Arizona who was shot in Tucson two years ago, posted on his Facebook page a photo of himself purchasing an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle from a local gun store, he had no inkling of the storm of criticism he would unleash.

It started at Breitbart.com, which smelled hypocrisy from the start. From there Michelle Malkin picked it up, followed by mrconservative.com, which put the matter succinctly: Kelly was a hypocrite.

Gabby Gifford’s husband, Mark Kelly, is an ardent gun control advocate. He co-founded a gun-control group that aims to control guns and high capacity magazines. He’s testified before Congress saying the government must stop sales of semi-automatic weapons. And last week he became the proud owner of a newly purchased AR-15, plus a 1911-style semi-automatic pistol.

George Orwell knew this guy: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” In America’s Animal Farm, Kelly just elevated himself to head pig.

A closer look at Kelly’s Facebook comments reveals not so much hypocrisy as a profound misunderstanding of the gun control debate he is engaging in. He truly thinks that assault weapons are the problem, that somehow the size of the magazine is the problem, that anyone can get a gun at a gun show without a background check, that putting restrictions on legitimate gun owners will somehow keep firearms out of the hands of criminals, and that because Jared Loughner used a 33-round magazine during his attack on his wife that “something” must be done, even if that “something” doesn’t make sense. The Internet’s criticism of Kelly’s purchase misses the point.

Here is Kelly’s Facebook comment, dated March 8, in its entirety:

Click here to read the entire article.

Photo of Mark Kelly testifying in favor of gun control: AP Images