General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do you favor gun registration? [View all]Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)Owners of same require same.
The second amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America doesn't say a single word about firearms. It protects the ownership of arms, weapons in general; but not specifically firearms.
American citizens can and do own fully functional Tanks, Fighter planes, bomber planes, 40mm Bofors guns, belt fed heavy machine guns, mini guns, submachine guns sawed off rifles and shotguns, silencers, maces, lances, swords, tomahawks, crossbows, and 105mm howitzers; all of which are regulated, some very heavily. Transportation, storage, public display, and federal registration are all part of the controls placed on these arms.
Why are high capacity easily reloadable light weight hand held weapons with an effective range of several hundred to a thousand meters not included in the commonly accepted packet of laws around every other arm?
The argument that the second amendment forbears all forms of regulations of firearms is a distortion of the actual text. Firearms are just a part of "arms". If there is little objection to regulation of other arms, then objections of regulation of firearms loses creditability,