Guns will protect you from tsunamis.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

No I thought pretty much everyone was on that slope already, and had different ideas of where to stop.

That's wishful thinking. I'd say it's not the case that "pretty much everybody" shares your ideas of the proper role of government and law.

As far as I can see, the constitution provides no foundation for any restriction on the posession of weapons by the people, nor does it delgate such a power to the states. You're invited to point out clauses that support your point of view. (You know, the one that "pretty much everybody" shares.)

Now I know for certain that there are lower statutes and case law that contravene that point of view. U.S v. Miller is probably the most prominent example, although most folks don't understand how narrowly drawn the court's judgement was in that case. Even so, I think U.S v. Miller was wrongly decided.

And there are certainly NRC regulations relating to the possession of nuclear material that would essentially prohibit civilian posession of a fission or fusion device of any design I know of.

But you very carefully asked about the Constitution. Kopel, Halbroook and Korwin's Supreme Court Gun Cases is a useful reference on the topic.