It is apparent that you never had to take an oath to defend this country, which is okay, so I doubt you or Erik would understand the part of the oath that say's: "against all enemies, foreign and domestic". That portion is very powerful and remains as valid today as it did when it was written. Contrarty to popular belief, it isn't a foreign enemy that anyone is concerned about. It is the "domestic enemy" that the personal ownership of firearms is meant to address. The rights guaranteed by the 2nd amendment is more about "homeland" defense as it is anything else. So you see, the validity of the "old argument" that personal gun ownership is what keeps us free, is still valid. FWIW, the 2nd amendment isn't about the right to keeps arms for hunting. The majority of politicians think it is, but can we expect them to know any better? ;) Quoting Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com>:
The personal firearm as a weapon of warfare is much more limited in application today, than it once was; this is the reason for the proliferation of bombings by revolutionary groups worldwide in recent decades. Guns work only if you know who your enemy is. Against the enemies of freedom these days, Madison Avenue (bread and circuses) is more powerful than gunpowder and steel casings. Obviously this country will never be attacked by enemy infantry. It would be either nuclear weapons, terrorism (bombings, infrastructure attacks, food supply contamination), or ecconomic in nature.
It still has some use for personal protection, IF you are faster, stronger, and luckier than your attacker. But the old argument that personal gun ownership is what keeps us free just isn't true anymore. Yes they might keep you alive a few more days in an appocalyptic scenario, if you can call that living.
That said, I do own firearms, but not for any high-minded constitutionalist reasons.
My 3 cents. Your mileage undoubtedly will vary.
Now, I'm going to go look for the new comet in my big binos. Thanks to Kurt for the head's-up. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com