Guns, The Bill of Rights, and Sensible Regulation

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I have found that it is nearly impossible to have a civil, rational and fully engaged conversation about guns with people who consider themselves gun enthusiasts (or gun fetishists, if you prefer). Their metaphoric defenses go up instantly if they feel that their literal defenses are threatened in any way. If any discussion about the potential limitation, regulation or registration of any element of the category "arms" are discussed, they come out. . .uh. . .guns a-blazing.  To the gun enthusiast, the 2nd amendment is akin to a holy commandment, and is separate and apart from the rest of the document it resides within.

I've never understood the passion gun owners have for either the 2nd amendment, or guns in general, but I've also never been against guns either for sport or protection. Increasingly, my stance has been difficult for me to square with the lunacy I hear coming from the far right on the subject. And when I see their hair trigger (sorry) reactions to any notion of "gun control," I find my instinctive defense (sorry) of their position harder to justify. Wayne LaPierre comes off as such an unreasonable douche, I find myself identifying much more with the counterargument.

Why must this be so? Why is there such hyper-defensiveness about the 2nd amendment? It isn't as though we don't regulate other devices, such as cars. And while it's true that car ownership isn't declared a "right" in the Constitution, it is also true that other Constitutional rights are subject to delineation, regulation and restriction. Check out this (much better written) article for an excellent deconstruction of the issue.

[Excerpt]

Driving, Drinking, Shooting

. . .So really, there's no comparison between cars and guns. Or guns and fatty foods, or guns and alcohol. There's no comparison at all. Because gun ownership is a right. . .

So, when it comes to regulating gun ownership, if anyone suggests that we should require the kind of safety, training, and personal responsibility that we demand of anyone getting behind the wheel of a car, we can say... Absolutely. Why not? . . .

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