(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The leftist Slate magazine seemingly walked back a controversial headline that many critics online interpreted as a veiled threat against conservatives.
The aggressive headline originally read: “Conservatives Are Terrified That People Like Me Are Buying Guns Now. Maybe They Should Be.” It has since been changed to the far less provocative: “My Gun and Me.”
The 5,000-word piece published on Feb. 11 by senior writer Christina Cauterucci reads like a memoir of her journey toward gun ownership. The long piece is framed as a cautionary measure against purported conservative aggression toward members of the LGBTQ community.
Despite devoting thousands of words to the piece, Cauterucci declined to speak with Headline USA when contacted via email. Instead, she copied Slate’s PR manager, Katie Rayford, and editorial director, Jeffrey Bloomer, on the email thread.
In her own words:
“In the shadow of Donald Trump’s second term in office, and amid the clear threat and increasing reality of political violence, some queer friends are learning to handle firearms, purchasing new weapons, or researching rifles for defense. Together, we talk through worst-case scenarios that would have seemed fantastical just months ago, imagining ourselves into a million futures that seem possible and unthinkable in equal measure.”
She cites specific examples of individuals she considers at risk, including Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two leftist activists involved in anti-ICE protests in Minnesota who put themselves in danger by reportedly interfering with federal immigration enforcement.
The article also references the 2022 Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, where Anderson Lee Aldrich killed five people and injured 26 others at the gay nightclub. Yet, it omits that Aldrich later identified as non-binary.
Naturally, the headline switch didn’t go unnoticed online. The popular Libs of TikTok X page highlighted it, posting
“Slate quietly changed this headline where they threatened conservatives that they will be killed,” the page wrote. “The internet is forever. We know what they meant.”
Slate quietly changed this headline where they threatened conservatives that they will be kiIIed
The internet is forever
We know what they meant. pic.twitter.com/RdbJy0rcvY
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 15, 2026
