Fascinating discussion, because the posts are written by people who obviously think for themselves, though disagree on some points. This is heads and shoulders above some of the awful, shallow rants we see on certain blogs and other forums.
As Americans, we DO stand up for each other even when we disagree. We'd better, anyway.
I was raised in a Democrat household but registered as a Republican once I established myself in adult life as a husband, father and salary-earner.
However, I disagree strongly with today's fascist-leaning Patriot-Act-supporting neo-conservatives who in my mind do not represent true conservatism as I think of it.
But I disagree even more strongly with someone who tells me AK47's need to be banned because no one "needs" one (I recently saw a blog post to this effect). Since when do Americans go around telling each other they shouldn't own something because they don't "need" it? Not to mention the possibility of a number of scenarios in which I could argue for a very real need for weapons like the AK47. Understood, modern military weapon systems can easily vaporize anyone with even a huge cache of conventional weapons. But what if my neighborhood erupts into anarchy because of, say, lack of food and gasoline? The military isn't showing up, neither are the police, but heavily armed gun nuts are going from house to house, taking what they need and want. For such a possible threat, I do want the right to at least have a temporary fighting chance for me and mine, rather than to be slaughtered by otherwise civilized people who recently became thugs. I may go down in such a scenario, but I would prefer to go down fighting with something more than a steak knife. You may say such a scenario is ridiculous, but I tell you that our government has been so reckless in managing our country's finances that we face the chance of a REAL economic meltdown any day now. You will hear many assurances in the mainstream media that this is not the case, but in my estimation, it is indeed the case. Who am I? What do I know? I won't go into that.
Anyway...I disagree vehemently with someone who says I have a "duty to retreat" inside my own home if a stranger invades it.
I disagree with a President who has stated strong opposition to concealed carry along with a voting record and a host of well documented spoken/written words that are in line with possible future restrictions and outright attempted confiscation. This guy is so popular that he has more potential power to move us in this direction than any national leader in my lifetime (Eisenhower was the President when I was born).
I'm not scared, but I am concerned, and to the best of my ability to make rational judgments, I wholeheartedly believe I am justifiably concerned.
We can argue about what gun controls are reasonable, if any, but I say this: if you consider yourself a reasonable, mature, wise person and you have not armed yourself and armed yourself well, then apparently you are not what you thought OR you are of the persuasion that does not mind going down without a fight.
Whatever laws are in effect, and they vary widely from state to state, I know that any motivated person can accumulate a large array of firepower (legally and/or illegally), and that today our nation is doing so at an unprecedented rate.
For my part, I will err on the side of accumulating too many weapons and too much "uncoded" ammo. In the process, I may become a hard-core gun nut. The side benefit is that shooting guns is pretty fun.
Peace out.
