[dd74]

Cam - this is the first time I've completely disagreed with you. But I need to first know what exactly the handgun problem is inside the U.S.? Where do you get your information about the so-called problem? I ask because per gun legally owned by persons in this country, very few are used in crimes. If such a percentage were the inverse, I truly believe The States would have blown themselves up by this time.

Secondly, NZ and Oz don't have anywhere near the population of the U.S., so that right there is an unfair comparison of gun crimes between your country and ours. Also, we aren't what's portrayed in the awful movies and slanted news reports you see. No one is gun crazy - at least that I know of. Conversely, most guns used in crimes (not all, but most), have been compromised in some manner, where it has either been stolen or passed from criminal to criminal. It's like a stolen car being used in a bank robbery that has also mown down kids at a park. The car was stolen, but don't blame it. Blame the thief. But under your observation, if a gun was a car, cars would be taken away - from everyone.

Where you are correct is in the assessment that we will not defeat our government with our weaponry. No, that will never happen. We defeat our government in polling booths. So yes, in its purest and oldest interpretation, the right to bear arms is outdated. However, it is still a right.

Personally, I'm very "so what" about guns. I can take them or leave them. But it's the right of gun ownership that I support. The freedom to own and keep one.

In fact, my support of gun ownership has as deep an implication as my belief in a woman's right to choose, gay marriage and a person's right to worship in the way they see fit - or refuse the idea of God in total. Gun ownership is another important right; it is a freedom. And to take that freedom away risks the other freedoms we enjoy in this country.