jason_els
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- Joined
- Dec 16, 2004
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Yeah I almost spit my water all over my screen when I read that one. I consider myself a moderate independant, but I get labeled right or left depending on the topic. So I'm used to it.
Anywho, you're exactly right DC, I think it is our right to own and bear arms. But it isn't 1776 anymore either, where owning a weapon in a lot of cases was crucial to your survival. Not only for protection but to provide for your family etc.
In 1821 it wasn't 1861 at Fort Sumter, in 1984 it wasn't 1991 in Sarajevo, in 1976 it wasn't 1989 in Tiananmen Square, in 1935 it wasn't 1956 in Hungary. We may not need militias now, at this moment, but that's the foresight of the Second Amendment. There may come a day again when we will rely upon them as the final guarantors of our freedoms whether it comes from foreign invasion or a domestic uprising. Our governments cannot always protect us, may even turn against us. What the future holds we do not know, but let's be glad that our guns are almost always taken out of their safes for pleasure rather than for necessity. There may come a time when the case will be otherwise.
I am not denying the right to carry a firearm, but you must be trained. You have to go through a 8 week class in a lot of states to get a drivers license, but you can walk into a gunshop, wait three-six days and walk out with a firearm.....yeah that makes sense.
Only in some states. Others, like New York, require that a newly purchased handgun be handed over to a local gun club where they have to train you. You receive your license once they give you the OK. I happen to believe that provision is unconstitutional because it's the government attempting to regulate firearms when it is clearly prohibited in the constitituion, but perhaps it satisfies you. In any event, the criminals will always get the guns before the law-abiding citizen does so I think these provisions are rather pointless.