Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_T
Those "right to keep and bear arms" provision were made in another era when the was a real need for them that is no longer true today, and that provision is being used by individuals to own property that, in many cases, is simply inappropriate to be in private hands, just because it's "fun"
Here's an example. Here in Canada, firearms laws are continually being made more restrictive, but when the law changes, 'grandfathering' provisions are written into the new law that basically say that if you legally owned one of these now-prohibited firearms prior to a certain date, you are allowed to keep it and given a special permit, and there are often special conditions attached to its use. That's the back story.
Where I am going with this is that back when I was involved with shooting sports I had the opportunity to fire several legally ownerd fully automatic weapons - Sterling, Sten, Thompson, USAS12 (OMG!!) Uzi... I even got to stand with an UZI in each hand and chatter them both together - tell me that doesn't make you feel like Arnold. My point being that it was an incredibly fun experience and one I would repeat anytime, but I would never ever try to make the case that my fun was so important that these incredibly dangerous weapons should be legalized and put carte blanche into the hands of private citizens who have absolutely no justifiable reason for owning them, other than that they are "fun".
And this is how I feel about assault style rifles. There is no justifiable reason for owning them. "But i like them and they're fun" is not a justifiable reason and certain is not reason to put aside public safety. The fact that they are presently semi-auto is irrelevant. Every one of them can be fairly easily modified to full auto. Combine that with a couple of jungle-clipped banana mags and you have an assault weapon that simply could not be possible with your standard 5-round hunting or target rifle. To me, the need to protect our kids from the occasional whackos that get their hands on these guns completely outweighs personal enjoyment. There's lots of other great hobbies out there - pick one.
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It's not that all of those types of guns shouldn't be in private hands, it;'s that some private hands are not stable or mature enough to own them.
As for the constitution thing, it also allowed for slaves and women could not vote. Yes, another era, but here we are and it still has authority over this issue.
A semi auto AR style gun cannot be easily modified to shoot full auto. Biggest lie around.
BTW, I own a Sterling SMP and an M1 Thompson, M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, and a 1927 Thompson (Al Capone era) among other fun guns.
No one said fun was the reason. It;s the constitution that allows me to own them. I need no other reasons.
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