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[Tommy_Carcetti]

212. The problem is, folks like you cry bloody murder on the "regulated and controlled" aspect.

You say it's a regulated and controlled right, but if anyone attempts to regulate or control guns, you'll go on and on about infringement and gun grabbers and so on and so forth. The fact of the matter is very few here or anywhere are advocating for a total 100% ban on all firearms. But many of us want restrictions, whether that be in the types of weapons a private citizen can own, the steps one must go through to obtain one, the steps one must go through to keep one, for some perhaps the amount of guns a private citizen can own, where that gun can and cannot be carried. There's not necessarily a consensus, except amongst the most fervent gun enthusiasts, and that is that it is all bad, and we're all a bunch of pansy "nanny staters" yada yada yada.

And you talk about fear, but it seems to me the ones living their lives in fear the most are the gun enthusiasts. Everyone's a potential robber, every person is a potential mass murderer, and you and only you can be John Wayne and save the day with your trust old sidearm forever at your side. It's thinking like that where you see a 17 year old unarmed kid dead for no reason other than he was wearing a hoodie in an unfamiliar neighborhood. That's fearful thinking for you.

On the other hand, I choose not to have a gun in my house. I know I live in a safe neighborhood with very little history of violent crime and the likelihood of a violent home invasion in my home is slim to none and does not justify me bringing in an instrument specifically designed to cause death or injury into my house, which I share with my wife and two young children. And I know in that very slim chance of such an event, I do have a 34 inch solid aluminum Easton baseball bat under my bed that I'm quite comfortable in using. And it's cheap, doesn't require a license, and probably wouldn't attact the curiousity of any children using it for any reason other than a pickup game of stickball

And yes, I will call folks like you "gun enthusiasts." It's what one calls a euphemism. My preferred phraseology involves the combination of the word "gun" and a certain crunchy organic snack food found in bowls at bars and such, but I'd rather keep it civil here.