King of the Hill, created by Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge, actually has a pretty good sense of humor and an even hand when it comes to potentially controversial issues. The rerun you mentioned is one good example. There's another episode where Hank and his son Bobby bond over responsible target shooting, which is represented as a positive thing.
More recently, they did an episode that spoofed the somewhat nuttier members of a gun club, but in an extremely gentle way. While one character was represented as a criminal and a nutjob (and of course the Dale character is always a paranoid loon, but in a silly way), the members in general were portrayed as law-abiding and good-natured.
One nice touch: Dale, distraught over the accidental discharge that may cost him the presidency of the gun club, takes off all his weaponry. He's toting a ton of it, of course -- including a neck knife! That's got to be the first neck knife I've seen portrayed in an animated series.
