Quote from piezoe:
Agreed. We have many areas of agreement and can have a useful and productive discussion. I sense that we will both agree that we have allowed too many infringements on what should be our constitutionally protected rights. What productive actions can we take I guess is the important question.
Going back now to the 2nd amendment -- on the minds of many at the moment. I am chiefly concerned that we may take unproductive measures that create new laws, more restrictions, red tape and hassle for gun owners that don't produce any significant gains with regard to public safety. I don't want to give up any freedom we now have unless we get something worth even more in exchange.
There is a danger that we will do things that are politically popular but decrease our freedom without a commensurate gain in public safety. I am willing to give up some personal freedom for a real gain in safety and significant reduction in gun violence. I am uncertain what that would be, but i'm thinking that the most effective measure we could take would be an outright, total and absolute ban on semi-automatic and automatic weapons. Even then it would take a number of years before we might see significant results. But were we to institute such a ban now, in twenty years or so I think we would see a virtual end to the kind of carnage we have experienced in recent years. It wouldn't take long to recover all of the semi-automatic weapons that are out there in the hands of law abiding citizens, but it would take years to recover nearly all of the semi-automatics that are in the hands of criminals. Few want to broach this topic, but if we did that, I don't think we would need gun registration, nor any other measure, nor even background checks -- though I am not strongly opposed to the latter.
I'm thinking a ban on semiautomatics, by itself, would bring a gain in public safety that would outweigh the freedom lost. And there would be zero effect on the use of guns for sporting purposes. No one needs a semiautomatic for hunting or target practice. I would even go along with gun clubs owning semiautomatic weapons of all types so long as their ownership, transfer of ownership, use and security was tightly monitored. I don't think we would need any other measures other than possibly a brief waiting period for purchase of hand guns. Then one could still go to a Walmart or gun show and buy a wide range of rifles and pistols for sport without undue hassle.
It would be very hard to convince me that the opposite approach being proposed by some of arming everyone is practical, sensible, or acceptable to the majority, but I am willing to listen to the arguments on that side.