There's an important lesson buried in there that I'm not sure she even planned.
Look at the "progression" she went through, and the order in which guns become "non-evil".
The FIRST guns she became comfortable with were personal self defense handguns of modest caliber. In other words, CCW as a concept. Had she been handed a 38 snubbie to fondle instead of the Keltec, I think her mindset would have been very similar.
You see, the FIRST concept people can wrap their heads around is the idea of driving off a mugger, rapist or similar. Morally and practically, they can readily envision themselves doing that.
Considering the possibility of taking up arms against the .gov (and having the appropriate rifles around for that event) is the LAST step along a "mental progression". One that I myself have followed over the last 10 years or so. (And still don't own a rifle - yet
.)
This, folks, is why people like Don Kilmer, Stephen Halbrook, David Kopel and the rest don't want Silveira to be the "next big USSC case". That's why they'd prefer it to be a defensive-handgun-in-home case in a place like WashDC. Not for legal reasons; if anything, a correct reading of Miller puts an AR15 in much better legal shape than that Keltec, or a 38 snubbie.
But, in terms of "gun ownership that's the easiest to for the judges to wrap their heads around", the AR15 is the second worse type possible, right after true full auto (Class3) stuff.
Now, I'm not writing this to disparage Gorski and company. I think the Silveira case can survive that problem by phrasing the question at the USSC as "should the 2nd Amendment even be discussed in the first place and get a trial?" versus "should we legalize assault rifles?". That's their plan already.
The reason I'm saying all this is that it's *important* to "start the debate" with CCW and personal defense against STREET CRIMINALS. This is why the success of the CCW issue nationwide has resulted in wins in other areas - defense against criminals is a good "first step on a mental journey", as illustrated by the lady cited in the link above.
There are people into the shooting sports who disparage the whole idea of CCW. I've met them, freqently. They're 100% wrong, and this situation illustrates why.
