Josh wrote: I think the 1986 National Firearms Act, which banned private citizens from buying automatic weapons or assault rifles, is about the right mix.
It also makes it much more difficult for private citizens to acquire or sell items like sawn-off shotguns and silencers, requiring extensive background checks, a signed approval letter from local law enforcement, and allows no "gun show loophole" type sales without a background check. It's been the law of the land for over 3 decades.
That's why I'm puzzled by the calls here from you and Dan Z to outlaw assault rifles or automatic weapons.
The 1986 law did not perform an absolute confiscation, but did require registration and fees to be paid. At this point, a registered assault rifle that can be legally owned costs in excess of $50,000 and, generally, needs the help of a lawyer to do the transfer & sale. It is extremely rare for any of them to show up at a crime scene.
it does become puzzling, trying to understand.
i believe the quote below is from an ordinary citizen, commenting on a news item:
Michael Middleton wrote:
“Read the founding fathers' commentaries on the 2nd Amendment;
their purpose had NOTHING to do with hunting or sport shooting.
It had everything to do with a citizens right and responsibility to protect the security of their families, their communities, and their nation from enemies both foreign and domestic.
They specifically notated an armed citizenry as being an essential safeguard against an abusive and corrupt federal government, such as they had just fought a war against to abolish.”
i believe he’s correct.
i would add, hunting, raising animals, livestock, in those early days was so common and taken for granted, various weapons used on farms, ranches, homesteads, by native Americans as well as newer arrivals,
it just would not be mentioned.
no refrigeration, no packaged meats, no sliced bread!
sport was not much on their minds. not a lot of liesure time.
however, imagining those times .. what would they have thought if they had foreseen “the people” allowed government to wholly out-arm the people?! - now, to the extent, the common “wisdom” is that government MUST have this domination, while the peoples’ power is 100% up for debate.
that’s a drastic change.
the founders were not Anabaptists. the majority of voters are not Anabaptist.
i try to grasp the CA pov, the CO pov, ordinary voting citizens’ pov, and ordinary non-voting citizens’ pov. the mix of all those is what determines voting outcomes. lobbies now have great influence.
for some, a new bump today: