Fine gun makers if they produce any of the banned weapons. Grant gun makers national charters to provide military weaponry, but not sale to civilians. If we stop them at the source, the supply will dry up.
What specifically do you mean by "military weaponry?"
Anti-gun interests are fond of saying one does not need a military-type firearm for hunting or target shooting. But the words
hunting and
target-shooting are not used in the Second Amendment -- the purpose of which is to enable the citizen to defend himself. So what if the occasion arises when the citizen needs to defend himself against an oppressor who is armed with "military weaponry?"
I am strongly in favor of the citizens' right to own guns. But there should be a requirement that each gun owner knows how to safely handle and to use the guns he owns.
I agree that there should be a responsibility/competence requirement. It must be understood that the misuse of guns through violence and malice as well as incompetence and irresponsibility. As these shootings tragically extend into the innocent population, the misuse of guns represents a public health and safety problem. The rights of the gun owner, as the rights of a man of the cloth or a journalist (the only profession mentioned in the constitution) or a farmer have to respect the havoc guns play in modern American society.
Now, as to "military weaponry", in my first post on this thread I laid out what civilian weaponry should be and what weans more properly belong in the hands of a "well regulated militia".
all long barrel weapons with either a bolt action in rifled guns or a pump action for shotguns. Revolvers and single shot action firing mechanism in pistols would be examples of hand guns the citizens could bear.
Weapons with magazine clips containing nine or more rounds, weapons with a semi-automatic or fully automatic firing system would be banned and sold exclusively to national armed forces here and around the world.
Importation of the banned weapons would result in both criminal and civil penalties. Trade between the United States and the nation where the Exeter or manufacturer operates would be suspended upon further review.
Then you ask about a better armed assailant. Let me help you recall a real life event. Four men are shot and wounded on the streets of a major east coast American city. Two of the wounded men are armed. One was rendered paraplegic for the remainder of his life. One took a shot to the chest and was saved by emergency room surgeons. And they were assaulted with a .22 caliber hand gun.
They were all surrounded by the best trained, best armed cadre of security personnel in world history.
The place was outside the Washington D.C. Hilton Hotel. The date was March 31, 1981. And the man with the chest wound was the President of the United States.
A lot of 'good guys with guns' and yet they could not prevent the tragedy.
What sort of realistic threats are in the realm of probability in your neighborhood? Are you living in Beirut 1984? How heavily armed do you really anticipate an assailant could be? Is there nothing you could not hit in your home with a 12 gage pump?
Not everyAmerican has had a pleasurable experience with guns. Too many, far too many Americans have experienced gun violence and are calling for reason and respect to the constitution. The second amendment, after all, in not a suicide pact.
