Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha
Proponents of gun rights generally oppose any gun control laws. For example, as you note, the NRA opposes a 5 day waiting period for background checks. Usually the people who need a gun within the next 5 days are the types of people who should be forced to wait an eternity to get a gun. Proponents of gun rights also generally subscribe to the theory that our society would be safer if more people were packing heat (hence their opposition to conceal & carry restrictions). So, if proponents of gun rights are not in favor of the proliferation of weapons, they damn sure are not advocating for restricting access to them.
The NRA opposes just about any limitations on access to guns. That they oppose a 5 day period for a background check and "cooling off" scares me. As for your free speech analogy, I don't think the two are even in the same ballpark.
I obviously believe that everyone has the right to defend oneself against attack. However, I don't believe that the right of self-defense is synonymous with the right to have unlimited access to firearms. I also believe that when criminals are buying weapons legally or illegally acquiring weapons that were once purchased legally, you don't solve the problem by making weapons easier to obtain.
Finally, I think shotguns and rifles should be legal. I think almost all other firearms should be illegal.
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As has been pointed out over and over in excruciating detail, gun control doesn't work because it only applies to the law abiding. Criminals will not abide by a five day waiting period or any other form of gun control by virtue of the fact that they are criminals. Therefore, only the innocent, law abiding citizens will have to jump through all the legal hoops, while thugs can run rampant with any type of firearm they want without restriction. Disarming the law abiding, leaving them without any effective means to protect themselves will only make the problem far, far worse.
Intelligent people can disagree, but I see our fundamental rights to speak freely, express ourselves politically, and to safeguard those fundamental rights by force against tyranny, as one in the same.