Quote:
Originally Posted by CU Tiger
This is honestly an area where my opinion has changed in recent years.
[For most of my life I have been staunchly, no limits no matter what. Because frankly I distrust most government actions, not because they are big evil corrupt demons hell bent on taking my guns, but because they are big ignorant corrupt bafoons who will pass legislation intended to stop mass murder weapons and get corrupted by lobbyists into outlawing bb guns- IN CASE IT ISNT OBVIOUS THAT IS EXAGGERATION FOR AFFECT]
I now do believe that we need to better shape who has what weapon.
I think the discussion gets nuanced, because terminology bleeds everywhere here. What is an AR style weapon, what is an assault rifle etc. (Im not going down that path again, Ive written some long posts on it you can find here easily) ...but I do think there is a different level of responsibility between a pump, or breakdown shotgun and a 30 clip magazine semi auto rifle. To be clear, I think I m entitled to the right to purchase and own both. But I do agree that the threshold to get the latter should be higher than the former.
I furthermore wonder if there shouldn't be a learner's permit type introduction. A "black rifle" maybe shouldnt be allowed to be your first purchase. But I am not resolved in my own mind fully there.
At a minimum there needs to be some evaluation threshold on acquiring high potential damage weapons. It doesnt need to cost the purchaser tons of money, and it shouldnt take months to complete. But I do agree we need some multiple levels of clearance.
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I want to talk a bit about this. I'd argue that you've never been a no limits guy. Haven't their always been weapons that you agree are too dangerous for most individuals? Almost everyone agrees that fully automatic machine guns, RPGs, etc. should be strictly regulated. So arguing whether the line should be this or that side of AR-15s isn't an argument about freedom vs. tyranny. Almost everyone agrees there should be a line, the argument is about where that line should be drawn.
We might be able to get somewhere if we all agreed that we're perfectly capable of banning some things and allowing others. We've been doing it for years with near universal agreement.