No matter what kind of ban you put on ANY kind of weapons the criminals will always get there hands on them. The Col. bought his AR15 & Ak47 just to own. From what he told me that gun stores can't keep them in stock plus the ammo for them.

Quite frankly, I find that extremely disturbing.

Hey, you gotta be prepared! You never know when a bunch of deer will be crossing the road and you don't have the car running.

What do you find disturbing?

I don't understand. If there really is an absolute individual right to to bear arms, then shouldn't citizens have the right to have working tanks, grenades, rocket launchers etc.?
I mean hand grenade fishing could be a big deal.

Thanks to PB for posting those considered "assault" weapons. Sorry to say, I am not familiar with any of them.

Yet, to my point, what use do these weapons have for the everyday person? I get the impression that they buy them simply because "they can." It sounds like a "macho" complex to me or am I wrong???


TIS

Didn't you hear, Tis?

They're fun to shoot .

DT, I have something of a unique perspective rergarding this issue. Of course, my M16 went with me everywhere in I Corps. Also, part of my class content is about the 2nd amendment. Regarding my M16, it is almost impossible to hold that weapon on target as is discharges its rounds. Thus, someone who isn't trained to use one and who doesn't practice firing it almost every day is likely to shoot any number of people who happen to be in proximity to whatever target is being shot at. So, I doubt its practicality when it comes to defending oneself or anybody else. When it comes to the 2nd amendment, there's plenty of evidence that its drafters and ratifiers would not sanction Americans owning a bazooka or even an automatic weapon. The father of our Constitution James Madison as a member of the Virginia legislature even proposed a Virginia law that would have placed constraints on hunting weapons.

I think that's why my hubby bought his. If I could afford one I'd like to buy a Tommy Gun.

Yes TIS, they are fun to shoot. All 3 of my kids like to shoot them to.

Thank you, Olivant. That's all I've ever tried to convey on this matter. The Second Amendment was originally drafted when "The Redcoats were comin." In a time that pre-dated automatic weapons. It needs retooling. Desperately.

PB, see my edited post above. I meant to say that the drafters would NOT countenance.

Yeah, but you left this in: "When it comes to the 2nd amendment, there's plenty of evidence that its drafters and ratifiers would not sanction Americans owning a bazooka or even an automatic weapon."

And that's what's important .

What other kinds of weapons do you feel should be banned?

I cannot remember the exact numbers but it went something like:

20% of the American people will be very anti gun. Speak out and complain and really let people know how we don't need guns.

then there are 20% of the American people out here who will be pro gun and support gun ownership and use. Speak right out there and will let everyone know it

the other 60% of the American people are just there. Sitting on the fence. Sure, no one will condone killing others but they aren't looking to ban guns. They just don't take a firm side.

Many of the first 20% who hate guns, have never own a gun, had any formal training with a gun or in many cases ever used a firearm.

Many of the 20% who are pro gun, have taken training, have been around firearms most of there lives and most own more then one firearm, in fact most own several if not many firearms.

Your view will be impacted by where you live City vs. Country living. And what your parents views were. So, if Dad had guns, most likely their children who have grown up with them will also or at least understand the use of firearms.

Like here in our area, there are many gun clubs, almost in every town or village. There are more Guns then there are people. You go the gun clubs and people are there 24/7, 7 days a week. With any and all types of firearms. And just like everything else, people want and love to play with all types of firearms. Family's there including young kids learning from the parents how to properly use them.

All agree that bad people use guns for bad things. The rest of the people suffer for what they have done.

That a gun shop owner has difficulty keeping such weapons in stock.

I am in full support of hunters, as long as they eat what they kill. However, such weapons are overkill, to say the least. I see no reason why anyone would want one or what one would do with one.

The Hatfields don't wanna be out-gunned by the McCoys, and the McCoys don't wanna be out-gunned by the Hatfields.

It's a vicious cycle, I tell ya!

LET'S FUCK! I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Capo is either on way too many meds, or has skipped a few doses. Not sure which.

There's a lot of sheep in England.

Oy.... that's baaaaaaad.

Hey, he said anything that moves.


TIS

It's the Welsh who've a rep re sheep.

I think he skipped doses on the ones he really needs.

AMEN

Hammers, pencils and truncheons.

The workers should be armed! Police with water guns, workers with two-by-fours and machetes.

I use an une trousse myself. Full of stationery of course.

Box it up box it up hee hee.

WTF is a truncheon?

Policeman's baton, an extension for his baton.

Silly billy willy. Violence used to silence peeps.

Womb man, eh men.

You cannot legally obtain an automatic weapon without going through a number of additional processes. I don't think that any domestic automatic weapon made after 1986 can be legally owned by a private citizen.

Description of process here

http://iawca.org/automatic-weapons-faq

The readily available "assault weapons" are all semi-automatic. I'm no gun guru but it's my understanding that conversion to automatic is not only illegal but impractical and beyond most people's skill-it's a completely different mechanism and design.

Anyway here is a picture of a rifle that depending on the trimmings added on to it was legal or illegal under the AWB.

Mini-14: Legal/Illegal

The thing is that all of the features that made the banned list were cosmetic ones which made little difference to the function of the rifle and were easily avoided by manufacturers.

The 2nd amendment is one of the most, if not the most, misconstrued part of our Nation's Constitution. First of all, the Bill of Rights was intended (Original Intent) to restrain ONLY the acts and actions (e.g., "Congress shall make no law ...") of the newly created federal government or to guarantee those subject to its jurisdiction certain rights ("... to have the Assistance of Counsel..."). In 1789 there was no concept of gun control as we conceive of it today. However, there was acknowlegement back then that guns could be misused, so there were some proposed constraints upon them, but those were infrequent and proposed as a function of state laws, not federal. That citizens could keep and bear arms is evident from those provisions of the Constitution which address state militias.

So, in my opinion, the original intent of the 2nd amendment's drafters and ratifiers was to preclude the federal governmetn from constraining the keeping and bearing of typical arms of the day but not cannons. Thus, it is inlikely that they would countenance today's citizens keeping and bearing fully automatic weapons.