Dan Z wrote:My 2 cents - for what it’s worth:
I’d no sooner want to see government take someone’s hunting rifle or shotgun away then confiscate their fishing pole.
I’m not crazy about handguns because of the likelihood they will be used against a person - often in a moment of irrationality or error. I’ve also been on the wrong end of a few of them in a robbery once - thankfully they weren’t used. As a matter of conscience, I would never choose to own one. But I doubt there would ever be the political will in America to limit their proliferation.
I’d like to see a universal licensing process that would better limit the access troubled people have to firearms, and give law enforcement the right to get a court order to confiscate a verifiably troubled person’s guns.
Regarding assault rifles - I wish they were illegal. I don’t like my family living in a society where weapons of war are recreationally bought & sold. Frankly, I’d love to see all the Assault Weapons melted down and made into John Deer Tractors.
Finally, I think the 2nd amendment was a bad idea that has taken on near-religious significance in this country. It will likely contribute to the USAs eventual undoing.
I had my fishing pole confiscated once by a "constable of the law"...
I don't really "like" guns (except my .22 magnum Mosburg "Chuckster") or the fact that some people obsess about them.
I understand the fear some people have of gun laws and universal registration - though I don't think "they" have a chance of defending themselves against the government if it did decide to round up registered gun owners and confiscate their arms. The original intent of second amendment was negated long ago by the state and federal governments maintaining standing armies and police forces. Though the right of a citizen to defend himself with a firearm still stands as at least "reasonable" in American society; the government cannot be held accountable under the law to protect you from bodily harm. I have to disagree with you on one point Dan, there are other "rights" that will contribute more to the downfall of America than the second amendment (especially those that derive from "penumbras" and "emanations" of other constitutional amendments).
Most people killed by criminals with guns are killed one or two at a time by hand guns. Most often those hand guns are in the possession of people for whom it is illegal to own a hand gun. Assaulting the National Rifle Association or the Second Amendment or ArmaLite or gun nuts (I know some gun nuts) who want to play with semi-automatic "military" looking firearms won't go very far toward reducing gun deaths where they are occurring most frequently. The term "virtue signaling" comes to mind when I think about the current push to "keep our kids safe from gun violence".
I would like to think that banning violent video games and films and that glorify violence (without showing the suffering of the victims and survivors) would likely go a lot further than trying to ban semi-automatic firearms in preventing kids from shooting up schools (assault weapons - that is, machine guns, are already banned). Humanizing humans again might save a lot of human lives. Families and schools paying closer attention to the mental health of "youth at risk" might help too.
As we are talking about an issue outside of God's Kingdom: swift, sure, and harsh punishment for criminal activity has always been an effective deterrent to criminal activity. That's common sense. And we already have some very good laws that are not enforced, swiftly or otherwise. In Massachusetts there is a mandatory 1 year prison term if you are in possession of a firearm illegally or while committing a crime (I believe New York has a similar law). It has not been enforced for decades.
The fact is too, most ongoing gun crimes by bad people with guns are stopped by good people with guns (generally the police). I feel uncomfortable being around people openly carrying a hand gun at the local grocery store, but I suppose criminals do too, so... Bad people with guns are not deterred by the declaration that they are entering a gun-free zone, rather they are likely encouraged by it! That too is common sense.