Firearms

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

Simple little sentence, but one that is always in the middle of a firestorm. The extremists on each side always fire the same tired rhetoric:

What about the children?

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns!

I own firearms and have been target shooting since a early age, so as you guess I lean more towards the pro-gun side. I do not see the need to own a .50 caliber fully automatic machine gun with napalm spewing attachment, if you do find the need for one more power to you. I do think that everyone should be taught basic firearm safety, and that if you commit a crime with a deadly weapon you should be hammered by the law. Accidents happen with firearms, and people get hurt and sometimes killed. Accidents also happen with cars, planes, skateboards, cheerleading, bowling (don't ask me how), slinkies, legos, bathing, and many other things with the same results. Crimes are committed with firearms. Crimes are also committed with cars, planes, skateboards....you get the idea.

Outlawing firearms will not cause crime to magically disappear(Canada, England, Australia, and other countries proved that). Arming every citizen will also not cause crime to disappear (but does cause it to drop, a town in north Georgia proved that). If you want accidents with firearms to be less common, educate people about how to handle them safely. If you want crimes committed with firearms to decrease, make examples of some criminals. Owning a firearm does not make you a rabid vigilante (if you go looking for trouble, you will find it, and deserve what you find), or invincible (at under 20 feet a knife will take a gun 9 times out of 10). I have seen people so stupid, they should not be allowed to own a firearm (of course I have also seen people too stupid to be allowed to breed). I don't get assault weapon laws, assault weapons account for less than 1% of weapons used in crimes. If a bayonet can be mounted on a weapon, it is a assault weapon, because it can be used as a spear (God forbid it be used as a gun).

Just my 2 cent worth.