Sometimes the National Rifle Association needs to know when it’s time to lighten up.

It pains us to say that, because the NRA has fought hard to keep the state and federal governments from denying responsible, law-abiding Americans from possessing and enjoying guns.

But the organization jerked the trigger recently when it targeted Easthampton Mayor Michael A. Tautznik and other Western Massachusetts mayors because they had the temerity to join Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a national organization that works to deny irresponsible and criminal citizens from getting their hands on guns.

It would take the logical skills of Aristotle to explain the finer points of why these groups disagree. Let’s just say that the mayors’ group believes America needs stronger curbs on gun trading, while the NRA believes the group seeks to erode our Second Amendment rights.

The NRA has been sending letters to its members nationwide denouncing Mayors Against Illegal Guns and urging them to pressure their mayors to quit the organization.

Caught in the middle of the whole affair is Tautznik, a gun owner and NRA member, who is locked in a tight re-election race. He withdrew from Mayors Against Illegal Guns after he received eight to 10 letters about his membership.

“This really isn’t a local issue,” he said last week. “I thought it would be quicker for the community to just end it.” Tautznik is wrong about that. It is a local issue, and Western Massachusetts doesn’t need the NRA to tell us what to think. We know guns. Our region is home to two of the world’s leading gun manufacturers – Smith & Wesson and Savage Arms. Our friends and neighbors make these guns.

But our region is also home to an ugly gang violence problem. Nearly all the murders and shootings in the region are committed with illegal guns. We know that nearly every illegal gun was once a legal gun, and mayors should fight illegal gun trading.

The Republican has and will continue to support the rights of gun owners, but sometimes we wish the NRA would focus more on promoting marksmanship and gun safety instead of badgering small town mayors. We’ve been shooting a little high and right lately, and we could use the NRA’s help. But when it comes to politics, we can think for ourselves.