Does your neighbor having an AR-15 in his house make you feel safer?

[gulliver]

28. The beauty of this is that it is social and private, not government.

I'm all for the government destroying the market for these AR-15-types of guns and their associated funny uncle accessories. Ban the manufacture, import, and sales of new ones. Whammo, the price of these things goes through the roof. And monsters who can barely keep their mental shit together enough to feed themselves won't be able to get these types of weapons with a web click or by dropping in at the local gun shop with a credit card.

But what the AR-15 apologists forget all the time (or maybe would like to forget) is that the government isn't their biggest problem. They may or may not have the 2nd Amendment freedom to have these objects, but I know for a fact that I have a right to discriminate against them for it. What the AR-15 apologists should be worrying about is the non-government consequences they face.

For example, they can't be protected from being fired (or not being hired) because someone found out about their little friends at home. Also, surely everyone has been burnt by Facebook by now. AR-15 owners need to worry about that too.

The idea that the "contents of my home" are not for the consideration of my neighbors is also wrong. My neighbors are free to think about and consider anything they want to think about and consider. Their freedoms and my freedoms are in balance. Some of the balance is maintained through criminal laws, some through private contracts, and some through business and social choices. I can't sell beer on my front sidewalk or have kiddie porn in my basement. I can't build a shed on my front lawn.