I Swear, I'm Not a Crazy Person

I figured that Friday’s discussion warranted a bit of a clarification on my part. For those of you who were or are concerned: I am not a gun toting crazy person. The looks I received after advocating that it was the right of American citizens under the Second Amendment to arm themselves so as to protect themselves were a bit disconcerting. In no way, shape, or form was I stating that, because we’re American citizens, we should be able to go to a store (or online for that matter), hand over a wad of cash, and walk away with a fully automatic assault rifle. No one outside of the military or law enforcement needs that kind of stopping power. Even Caucasian store owners being threatened by them thar Black and Latino gangs (a ridiculous assumption, by the way) do not need to be able to pull out their suppressor-equipped MP5 to dole out some civilian justice in case of an armed robbery. I actually believe this case is rather simple. If someone walks in and puts an AK-47 in your face, regardless of how many people are with him, or whether or not you are armed and with what, that person is your new best friend. If someone was to come up to me under any circumstance and put a gun to my head, I would begin to listen very intently to what they have to say, as it is probably rather important.
Gun control, for the most part, keeps unnecessary firepower out of the hands of those who would do no good with it. That being said, it is an American’s constitutional right to possess arms. A handgun or shotgun for self- or home-defense makes perfect sense to me. Rifles for hunting are also equally acceptable. However, there is no reason that these weapons should not be limited to those who can demonstrate an adequate ability to use them. Much as the First Amendment does not allow for speech that does harm to others, the Second must be applied in a way that does not allow those who would harm others with their weapons to do so. And there is no reason, no legal reason anyway, that a person would require the ability to immediately go out and purchase a firearm. The police are reserved for a situation such as that. A background check requirement is not by any means over the top or unnecessary. I, and every other law abiding citizen, can wait a week or so to get my ridiculously awesome target shooting or hunting rifle.

Side note: I’ve been looking into going to a shooting range in the area, let me know if you’re interested. I highly recommend it, especially for those of you who have not fired a gun before, it’s a lot of fun (and not in a sadistic, creepy way).

Side note 2: I’ve officially registered www.BetaRhoOmicron.com, check back every once in a while for updates. Nothing’s up there yet, I’m still struggling with website builder. If anyone has some experience with this, let me know.