[Oni]

Numerous similar rulings DID happen, but that doesn't negate my wrongness. Must've missed that case.

I'd still stand by that the second amendment doesn't define that right, as the argument for why personal firearms are covered is because the concept of a militia is outdated, and that the connotation of the text was that people have the right to firearms.



As for the anecdote directly above, you assume that gun owners automatically carry weapons on them, or close enough to them, in such a way that a sudden intrusion could reasonably be stopped. I'm sure some do, but I, for one, keep the one firearm I own under lock and key in my bedroom, both to prevent someone from stealing it, and because I've a sense of security in my house, so why would I keep it out in the open?

You also assume the primary goal of gun restrictions is to prevent criminal activity. The debate doesn't get renewed every time a civilian is caught in gangland crossfire, you see it when someone flies off the handle, grabs a gun, and starts shooting people. That aside, making large guns illegal, or at least highly regulated, would make it a LOT harder for criminal elements to get them.

Whereas right now, I could go on gunbroker.com and buy dozens of combat-grade rifles, if they were more highly regulated I would have to:

a) Justify the risk of arrest/seizure to my criminal enterprise
b) Pay off a few people
c) Either import them from another country, or rip off a shipment.

The ruling from 2008 goes against what you are saying. Your interpretation of the Constitution is clearly your own. It's been ruled that it safeguards our right to bear arms and it was written in plaintext. The ruling only strengthens my statement. Clearly not everyone would be as comfortable carrying a loaded firearm around, but I think it's prudent. You wouldn't hear about these mass-shootings in other states if there were people carrying nearby.

The people that commit mass murder, are consumed with hatred and depression, and aim for places where there is little chance of intervention. They want to take lives, make other people suffer, and possibly end up on headlines. If there was a chance of intervention, there would be no mass-shooting. It would just be the death of an angsty teen that decided to carry around his dad's shotgun.