So what is the acceptable limit on gun ownership?

[rpenmanparker]

I understand the slippery slope argument. However, I have to think that even the most rabid gun ownership advocates must see some unavoidable limits to what weapons can be owned by civilians. Where would you place that limit?

Let's discuss.

I'll go first. Thermonuclear devices. Does anyone think that civilians should be able to acquire thermonuclear devices?

Now I challenge you all to name another reasonable limit, something not as drastic as hydrogen bombs, but clearly above the level where you think there is a bright red line that marks what civilians ought to be able to own. The purpose of the discussion is to try to work our way down to a reasonable level that doesn't materially infringe on our rights, but also doesn't pose a clear and present danger to our society.

 

[entropy]

Repeal of GCA '68, NFA '34, and enactment of laws that punish the actions of the guilty, instead of the equipment of the innocent. Read Descartes' quote in my sig line.

 

[Sistema1927]

The Founding Fathers had no problem with citizens privately owning artillery and warships.

 

[rpenmanparker]

You make a good point. I ask you this. The founding fathers were schmucks just like you and me. They were mostly brilliant but also completely human in both their good and bad qualities. They were not gods. Do you think they were infallible?

 

[Salmoneye]

The founding fathers...(edit)...Do you think they were infallible?

Clearly they were fallible...

If they had not been, they would have worded 2A much more like the 'rights' they were attempting to 'copy' from existing State Constitutions...

The first sentence of my sig line is a prime example of better wording (IMNSHO)...

 

[Hokie_PhD]

You make a good point. I ask you this. The founding fathers were schmucks just like you and me. They were mostly brilliant but also completely human in both their good and bad qualities. They were not gods. Do you think they were infallible?

Really? What leftist teacher taught you such BS

Maybe you need to go to DC and spend some time at the National Archives, the Library of Congress and all the historic sites to learn the truth. Maybe head up to Boston and learn about the beginning of the Revolution, or to Philly and learn about Ben Franklin.

The founding fathers were a cross section of society. They were from colonies that existed for over 150 years before the war. Mine came over 152 years before.

Individually some like Jefferson, Madison, John Adams and Franklin were great men with incredible minds. Some like George Washington and Sam Adams werent great thinkers but were great in leadership. I could go on and on but I have to get back to work as soon as one of our systems boots.

The thing is, they worked long and hard to come up with an amazing form of government. One that anytime we’ve messed with it has resulted in problems. So don’t criticize the collective brilliance of these great men.

 

[HankB]

Constitution allows for issuance of Letters of Marque, which clearly is intended to apply to things like privately owned warships. Though back in the 18th Century I doubt that there were any privately owned "ships of the line" there were certainly armed merchantmen. Even today there might even be a place for them - say, around the Horn of Africa to deal with Somali pirates. But that's pretty much limited to the high seas.

I would not support unrestricted availability of true WMDs - which in my estimation only include nukes, chemical weapons (e.g., poison gas), and biological weapons (weaponized germs & toxins like ricin.)

As an occasional air traveler, I really don't want to see wide distribution of things like Stinger missiles, either.

I think firearms that are more or less equivalent to those carried by "typical" individual soldiers are fine and ought to be available without restriction to adults that are not prohibited persons like illegal aliens, convicted felons, druggies, and those adjudicated as mentally defective. That would include all manner of rifles, handguns, and shotguns, including SBRs, automatic, and suppressed individual weapons. Grenades, high explosives, crew served weapons, and those which need to be towed by a vehicle should require additional background checks and perhaps zoning limitations. (I wouldn't mind my neighbor having an M16 . . . but I don't want to be living in a residential area next to a home with 500 lbs of C-4 in the closet.)

 

[BigBore44]

Not one weapon I own poses a threat to society. But they will pose a very present danger to anyone trying to do me serious physical harm. What society thinks is irrelevant to me. The wolf does not concern himself with the opinions of sheep.

 

[MrBorland]

rpenmanparker - welcome to THR. As per our rules and mission, this is a site to discuss firearms and 2A issues. "Other weapons", nukes, missiles, etc. aren't part of this mission, so I'm closing this thread as "off-topic".