a well regulated militia

[jaguar]

Abstract absolute rights. Something i've heard throw about here before. They don't exist. Freedom of speach is not absolute freedom of speach. Its free as long as its not libel, or slander, or a threat or piss anyone off enough. Its limited freedom of speach. There is no such thing as absolute rights. You have no rights. When the shit hits the fan, your rights will be ignored. Look at two of the US suspects of terror. Locked up without trial, with access to lawyers. Every right you have is given to you until you piss someone off enough for them to take it away. You can't defend against that, people protesting in the streets won't change that. Our own apathy and greed destroyed the concept of a functioning democracy generations ago. We're at baseline politics now. At a macropolitical level the actions of individual are meaningless and the actions of groups are meanless unless they offer political power or money. Guns on thier own offer nether anymore. The tools of power have changed.

Ah! The light begins to dawn! You want to preserve your personal physical advantage. The idea that you are as vulnerable as everybody else is what really bugs you about the right to keep and bear arms. But why should you be entitled to hold more power than your fellow citizens, who have the same rights you do? Just because you're bigger and stronger? You're not an inherently superior being just because you're a jock, you know.

Man, you really are bitter aren't you? That statement shows more about your mentality than anything else. Guns are the big equaliser eh? Now i can take on that tough guy. What happens when someone gets a bigger gun. What happens when all thsoe bad guys you're just itching to blow away get bigger guns. What happens when they're nervous, they don't want to die, shaking hands on tigger fingers. Not good.

Violence is the tool of the weak minded

Issac Asimov.
Never heard a truer sentence.

EDIT: tools....knew i forgot something. Fundamentally a gun is desigend to kill people. That is in my book a bad thing, no matter who does the killing or why. There are many alternative forms of self defence that are designed to injure or incapacitate, killing should be a last possible alternative, not the first. Therefore guns, for your average joe are an unnessacary risk in terms of self defence.