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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mary Cluney who wrote (108196)	4/7/2005 12:57:13 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 793917

Both my boys have their own sniper rifles, and know how to use them. ;^) In fact, I know a lot of people who use sniper rifles just for fun, including women and children. Personally my eyesight isn't so great and I don't really enjoy shooting, but for some it's just a lot of fun. There are at least 70 million Americans that own guns, but less than 2 million active duty military, so even if the unlikely coup attempt did occur those are not bad odds. It really is true that when dictators take over, the first thing they do is confiscate firearms from the general populace. I have been reading Alan Furst's series of novels about WWII (which, by the way, are excellent) -- people in the Resistance are always scrambling for weapons or getting in trouble because they own weapons. That's just the way it was. Big Brother doesn't want you to have guns. And anything Big Brother wants, I oppose, just on general principles.

To: Mary Cluney who wrote (108196)	4/10/2005 5:18:58 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 793917

If getting a license to operate a gun, like getting a license to operate an automobile, prevents people from getting killed - then why not? That is a big if. The Constitutional thing seems quaint and out of date. If a part of the constitution is quaint and out of date in a way that causes us harm or limits us in some unfortunate way, than there we retain the ability to amend away that part. Its important that it not just be ignored. The rule of law is an important principle. When the feds come after you with their sniper teams and armored vehicles, the little hand held is not going to do that much for you. The feds can't come for everyone with armored vehicles and sniper teams, and if the US government ever did become oppressive and there was any real insurgency against it than it is possible that some of those armored vehicles and sniper teams would join the opposition. And the possibility of opposition can help prevent the oppressive government from happening in the first place. Its no panacea but its useful. Anyway the constitutional provision is not reliant on that particular justification. Tim