Huh. I had no idea that Honda and Kawasaki had lobbiests in Washington blackmailing members of congress to limit lawas against gang-related activities. Interesting.

They aren’t nearly as powerful as the Harley-Davidson sponsored “Hell’s Angels” lobby.

Huh. I had no idea that Honda and Kawasaki had lobbiests in Washington blackmailing members of congress to limit lawas against gang-related activities. Interesting.

I agree with Greg that the USA desperately needs comprehensive reform of the way we deal with firearms, though I’m not sure we agree on the 2nd Amendment. I’m firmly of the opinion that any reasonable interpretation of the document asserts that the right to bear arms is not a universal, individual right, but one related to the existence of a “well regulated militia.” Given that the presumed role of a militia was to protect individual states from federal tyranny, there’s no reason not to believe that the National Guard doesn’t comprise the “militia” of our time.

And even if you don’t buy that logic, it’s my firm belief that our individual right to bear arms should still be “well regulated.” It currently isn’t. My understanding is that some countries (I’ve heard Canada and Switzerland referenced) have relatively high levels of gun ownership, with relatively low levels of gun violence, due to comprehensive regulation and enforcement of laws related to the ownership of those weapons. It’s time for the US to (at the very least) follow that example.

is it a valid argument? that i leave to you to decide

To Manamoto in post 18: You fail to see how he mis-represents it? Let me give you an example. Manamato has never cheated on his wife…so he says. I’m not saying you cheated on your wife…just implying it like all hell. Greg implied this guy didn’t really accidentally shoot those people, despite not having an ounce of proof. This is some Glenn Beck level weaselyness. “Did the president’s trip to India cost 300 million dollars? Tune in to hear about it!”

To riptide in post 17: I live alone in a one room carriage house. If someone is in here, there is a problem. I have nowhere to run to, no way to escape. I’m not afraid of pro thieves, however. A.) My apartment is a bad place to rob and b.) Pro thieves break in when people are NOT there.

I know I’m not going to be 007 in the middle of the night in a rough situation. I do know, however unlikely it may be, that if some nut wants a crack at me, I have a recourse other than hoping my door holds until the police get here. Sleepy as I may be, I can rack a slide and point at a chest. I also don’t keep the gun within arms reach. I’d have to cross the room and give adrenaline a second to wake me up. Also, I never keep a bullet in the chamber and if I pick the gun up, I take out the mag and clear the breech. No exceptions.

The main reason I have it is, I like guns. I enjoy going to my dad’s farm and shooting junk. I’ve never accidentally shot someone, nor do most of the hundreds of thousands of gun owners.

I use my rifle to get food for my family, saving us massive amounts of money, as well as allowing me to learn new skills (I’m 18, btw). I make each one of my shots perfect, never forcing myself to pull and jump, and have only missed twice. I studied anatomy so i can place my shots well, causing either instant unconsciousness by shock, or immediate death by severing the brain stem or spine. if that isn’t a humane way to go, i don’t know what is. as far as i can tell, i have a good sized penis, judging from what my girlfriends and boyfriends say. I don’t hate the “guvmint”, hell, i’m as liberal as it gets. however, i firmly believe that firearms are tools to be used for protecting the nation when we fail to use words, for guarding ourselves when help is too far away, and for the harvesting of sweet, sweet, sweet venison.

I understand that stories like this can piss you guys off, it gets to me too, believe me. but banning firearms and calling people who use them for legitimate purposes names is… well, it’s pretty unfair, and quite a dick move, i must say. If you’re gonna mock anyone, mock Perry, look at him, he can’t make it any easier than he already is… But people like me, Texans like me, gunowners, hunters, sport shooters, and collectors like me… we are not the problem. we just need to educate people correctly on how to handle firearms. Switzerland has the right idea, mandated training, how many accidents do they have? but banning firearms, now… I just don’t understand that.

We need to support all the Constitution, now just the parts we agree with.

Including the 3/5 clause?

I also live in the absolute middle of nowhere, handle my guns (except when I first bought them and drove them home) in the absolute middle of nowhere and hunt, in the absolute middle of nowhere.

That being said, I agree with the premise of this post. There are some weapons which are far too dangerous for private individuals to own, especially in heavily populated areas. Plus, there is no practical reason or benefit to owning them. There is no legitimate reason to want a high powered rifle, or a fully automatic weapon, or armor piercing bullets.

The only thing those guns are good for, is killing people. If you shoot a deer with something like that, you’re not going to get much edible meat out of it. If you shoot a duck with it, all that will be left is a puff of feathers.

They’re not even good at killing people in to only reasonable situation to kill someone, self-defense. When it’s dark, and you’re scared and startled and half asleep, you’re probably going to fire that turbo-high-powered rifle into one of the walls of your house, rather than into the intruder. The best gun for home defense is the a shotgun, because at the close ranges you’d face, it’s just about impossible to miss, plus if you do somehow miss, the pellets are a lot less likely to keep going and injure someone else.

I think undue respect is given to the constitution. When it was written, the best rifle in the world was inaccurate, muzzle loaded and expensive. A bullet was a little metal ball that you had to pack down the barrel of your gun along with black powder with a ramrod. Reloading to fire again was something that could take minutes.

Now, I could go out with about a week’s worth of pay and get something that can empty dozens of rounds a second with good accuracy. I can buy rounds which are hollow or explode, and with another full clip, I can reload in seconds. There is no comparison in power level. Times change, the constitution should too.

We need the power to ban some firearms from the general public, just for public safety reasons.