God is dead. Nietzsche finally proved right.

Manic Moran wrote: »

Before you give someone the keys to a Hummer (or any other vehicle) there are some basic minima which are required. Think about when you first started driving: You had to be of a certain age for your Provisional, maybe have an eyesight test or a written test. You learned under the supervision of a more responsible adult, who probably owned the vehicle you were learning in.

Then, when you're ten years older, nobody thinks twice when you go down to the local Land Rover dealer and buy an SUV. Yet if your analogy is to apply, you would submit that nobody should be entitled to have an SUV for fear that someone who is young and irresponsible may have one and misuse it.

The same for firearms. There are certain minimum requirements before you can legally buy a firearm such as age or a background check. (The NRA has no issues with these requirements: They don't want to see firearms in the hands of criminals or incompetents either.) Responsible users usually start out at a tender young age taught by adults, and usually that adult provides the firearm to train on, just like a car.

But why should I, in my thirties with ten years military service so far and, I would venture to say, fairly responsible, be told that I am not to be permitted to own a firearm for fear that someone else I have never met, with lesser ideals of responsibility, may misuse one? That strikes me a lot of collective punishment, restricting the innocent as well as the guilty.

Besides, there's that other small little item of the Constitution. You have no Constitutional Right in the US to drive a car, but the second item in the Bill of Rights contains the phrase "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed". The Constitution is there to prohibit the tyranny of the majority. The first amendment means that no matter how unpopular what you are saying is, you have the right to say it. The fourth says that no matter how much the government may want to eavesdrop or search your properties, due process must be followed even if the reason the police want to search your house is for the common good. All are important, you cannot pick and choose any one item of the Constitution to enforce, and one to disregard.

NTM