>>My point of view is probably different from yours. Take the M79 rocket launcher. You probably think it wouldn't be okay for the ordinary citizen to own one unless the State gave permission.
Actually I agree with you in many issues that relate to the power of the State. However, I also include corporate power (insurance companies, for example) as part of the State, since they are constantly bribing legislatures to get the laws they want.
>>First of all, agree that the right to bear arms is a legitimate right; then we can talk about the details.
It is a right for noncriminal, mentally healthy citizens of the appropriate age and ability. No question.
By writing that "gun control" is a distraction issue, I mean that we probably shouldn't even be debating it as a risk factor. It distracts us from other more deadly risk issues like toxic waste dumping, poor follow-through and enforcement of existing environmental regulations, and state and local corruption.
For example, in sections of northern Kentucky, the average IQ of public school children is between 50 and 75. How's that for risk! That same area is also a site of rampant mercury and benzene emissions, and the state itself is known as the most corrupt in the nation. We should debate what to do there; how to enforce existing regulations and get those crooks into orange jumpsuits. Instead we debate whether corrupt legislatures have the right to take away somebody's AR-15.
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