Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights organization, posted an alert on its blog Tuesday: “Paul Ryan Speaking at Hate Group’s Annual Conference.” 
 
 The “hate group” that the Republicans’ vice presidential candidate would be addressing? The Family Research Council, a mainstream conservative think tank founded by James Dobson and run for many years by Gary Bauer. 
 
 The day after the gay rights group’s alert went out, 28-year-old Floyd Lee Corkins II walked into the Family Research Council’s Washington headquarters and, according to an FBI affidavit, proclaimed words to the effect of “I don’t like your politics” — and shot the security guard. Corkins, who had recently volunteered at a gay community center, was carrying a 9mm handgun, a box of ammunition and a backpack full of Chick-fil-A — the company whose president recently spoke out against gay marriage. 
 
 Mercifully, the gunman was restrained, and nobody was killed. When I walked by the Family Research Council building at 8th and G streets NW on Thursday afternoon, things were returning to normal. Outside the main doors, above which is inscribed the group’s “Faith, Family, Freedom” motto, some discarded yellow police tape lay on the sidewalk. Attention to the incident had already begun to fade. 
 
 That’s unfortunate, because this shooting should remind us all of an important truth: that while much of the political anger in America today lies on the right, there are unbalanced and potentially violent people of all political persuasions. The rest of us need to be careful about hurling accusations that can stir up the crazies. 
 
 Human Rights Campaign isn’t responsible for the shooting. Neither should the organization that deemed the FRC a “hate group,” the Southern Poverty Law Center, be blamed for a madman’s act. But both are reckless in labeling as a “hate group” a policy shop that advocates for a full range of conservative Christian positions, on issues from stem cells to euthanasia. 
 
 I disagree with the Family Research Council’s views on gays and lesbians. But it’s absurd to put the group, as the law center does, in the same category as Aryan Nations, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Stormfront and the Westboro Baptist Church. The center says the FRC “often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science.” Exhibit A in its dossier is a quote by an FRC official from 1999 (!) saying that “gaining access to children has been a long-term goal of the homosexual movement.” 
 
 Offensive, certainly. But in the same category as the KKK? 
 
 Since the shooting, conservatives have complained that the media have played down the story. This probably has less to do with bias than with the fact that nobody was killed. Still, there is something to the complaint. 
 
 I took issue with Glenn Beck before his fall for stirring up the unstable by promoting conspiracy theories in the mass media; more than one Beck follower became violent. What the Southern Poverty Law Center and Human Rights Campaign have done isn’t close to the level of provocation Beck achieved, but that doesn’t justify their actions. The National Organization for Marriage, which opposes gay marriage, is right to say that the attack “is the clearest sign we’ve seen that labeling pro-marriage groups as ‘hateful’ must end.” 
 
 Gays and lesbians are winning the fight for equality by example and persuasion. Those who support gay rights will gain nothing by sticking inflammatory labels on their opponents, many of whom are driven by deeply held religious beliefs. 
 
 The Family Research Council’s president, Tony Perkins, said Thursday that “Corkins was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center.” This goes too far. Nobody gave Corkins a license to kill. But at the same time, “hate,” a strong word, has been used too loosely — whether it’s Mitt Romney telling President Obama to take his “campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago,” or the Southern Poverty Law Center lumping a Christian policy group in with hooded bigots. 
 
 Late Thursday, the law center fired back at Perkins, defending its categorization of the FRC as a hate group because it “has knowingly spread false and denigrating propaganda about LGBT people.” The center said that Perkins should stop putting out “claims that are provably false” about gay people. 
 
 Yes, Perkins should stop doing that. But even if he doesn’t, the Southern Poverty Law Center should stop listing a mainstream Christian advocacy group alongside neo-Nazis and Klansmen. 
 
 danamilbank@washpost.com ||||| As authorities revealed details about the Family Research Council shooting, the head of the influential conservative organization blamed the attack on "reckless rhetoric," but then delivered his own politically-charged remark, saying critics gave the accused gunman "a license to shoot an unarmed man." 
 
 Washington Police and FBI agents gather outside the Family Research Council in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, after security guard at the lobbying group was been shot in the arm. A police spokeswoman... (Associated Press) 
 
 Washington Police and FBI agents gather outside the Family Research Council in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, after security guard at the lobbying group was been shot in the arm. A police spokeswoman... (Associated Press) 
 
 Tony Perkins' comments Thursday fanned already-inflamed statements from both sides, tapped into deep divisions over abortion and gay marriage, and drew more finger-pointing. 
 
 Meanwhile, the accused shooter, Floyd Lee Corkins II, was ordered held without bond on accusations he opened fire a day earlier inside the lobby of the council's headquarters. Corkins, whose parents said he strongly supported gay rights, had a backpack full of Chick-fil-A sandwiches and a box of ammunition when he said words to the effect of "I don't like your politics" and shot a security guard, authorities said. 
 
 The guard was shot in the left arm but nonetheless managed to help take down the gunman, preventing what the police said could have been a deadly attack. 
 
 It wasn't immediately clear why Corkins, 28, had the chicken sandwiches. 
 
 The Family Research Council has steadfastly supported the president of Chick-Fil-A and his staunch opposition to same-sex marriage, a stance that has placed the fast-food chain at the center of a hot-button national cultural debate. 
 
 The organization strongly opposes gay marriage and abortion and says it advocates "faith, family and freedom in public policy and public opinion." The conservative group maintains a powerful lobbying presence, testifying before Congress and reviewing legislation. 
 
 While blaming Corkins for the shooting, Perkins also faulted the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights organization that tracks and litigates against hate groups. The law center labeled the council a hate group in 2010 for what it called the organization's anti-gay stance. 
 
 "Corkins was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center that have been reckless in labeling organization hate groups because they disagree with them on public policy," Perkins said. 
 
 Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the SPLC, called Perkins' accusation "outrageous." He said the council earned the designation for spreading false propaganda about the gay community, not for its opposition to same-sex marriage. 
 
 "The FRC routinely pushes out demonizing claims that gay people are child molesters and worse _ claims that are provably false," he said in a statement. "It should stop the demonization and affirm the dignity of all people." 
 
 Corkins had recently been volunteering at a D.C. community center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. He lived with his parents in Herndon, Va., and appearing in court Thursday with what looked to be a black or swollen eye, told a federal magistrate that he had only $300. 
 
 Prosecutors requested a mental health evaluation, and Corkins' public defender did not address the allegations in court. 
 
 Corkins faces charges of assault with intent to kill and bringing firearms across state. The judge ordered him held pending a hearing next week. Corkins was otherwise silent during the hearing and stared ahead impassively. 
 
 His parents have also not commented, but they told FBI agents that their son "has strong opinions with respect to those he believes do not treat homosexuals in a fair manner." 
 
 The assault charge carries up to 30 years in prison and the weapons charge has a 10-year maximum sentence. 
 
 Corkins received a master's degree in 2006 from George Mason University's College of Education and Human Development in Fairfax. He earlier attended Grace Brethren Christian School near Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. 
 
 The shooting was condemned by President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as well as gay and lesbian advocacy groups and conservative organizations. 
 
 But there was no swift sign of reconciliation across the ideological spectrum. 
 
 "Perkins cannot be allowed to exploit the sympathy rightfully generated by this inexcusable crime to whitewash his group's ongoing anti-gay activities. If the FRC wants to stop being labeled a hate group, it must stop doing and saying hateful things," Wayne Besen, the founding executive director of Truth Wins Out, a non-profit group that fights anti-gay sentiment, said in a statement. 
 
 Authorities believe Corkins parked his car at a northern Virginia Metro station and used public transportation to get downtown. An open black box resembling a gun box was found on the car's passenger seat, an affidavit said. Corkins used a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol that was legally bought and owned, said Richard Marianos, special agent in charge of the ATF's Washington field office. 
 
 The guard, Leonardo "Leo" Johnson, 46, was resting comfortably at a hospital Thursday morning. He told WJLA-TV that Corkins claimed he had come to the council's office to interview for an internship. 
 
 Johnson's mother, Virginia Johnson, said she had not been to visit him but had spoken to him by phone. 
 
 "He said he feels very well," she said in a brief interview. "I am proud of him, very proud of him." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press Writers Brian Witte and Matthew Barakat contributed to this report.
– The Family Research Council was quick to blame the shooting at its offices on its arch-rivals at the Southern Poverty Law Center, releasing a statement accusing the SPLC of giving the attacker "a license to shoot an unarmed man" by calling the FRC a "hate group." That's going too far, writes Dana Milbank at the Washington Post, but the Council does have a point. We "need to be careful about hurling accusations that can stir up the crazies." "This shooting should remind us all … that while much of the political anger in America today lies on the right, there are unbalanced and potentially violent people of all political persuasions," Milbank writes. He doesn't agree with the FRC on gay rights, "but it's absurd to put the group, as the law center does, in the same category as ... the Ku Klux Klan." Gays and lesbians are slowly winning over the public by example. Their supporters "gain nothing by sticking inflammatory labels on their opponents." Click for Milbank's full column.