I am a gay man. I learned about Pink Pistols in 2002. I had a friend (a gay man) who was beat to death in a hate crime in 1999. I was involved in the murder trials of the two perpetrators. The media covered the trial and I was on TV. I got hate mail and had my truck vandalized during this time. I bought a pistol and got a concealed carry permit. I would have used the weapon for self-defense if I had been cornered. I was in the military so I was very comfortable with handling a weapon. Also, I grew up in a family of hunters, so I grew up with guns. All of that said, I am not a gun nut or a member of the NRA. In light of all of the gay-bashing that goes on in the USA (I believe much of it is probably unreported) I can understand why a gay group would support pistol ownership, especially a GOP gay group (although I am a Democrat).
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
Just keep in mind the best gun control is using both hands to aim...
jkfatface
· 1 year ago
I worry about gay bashing too. It's just smart to protect yourself. Pink Pistols is pretty much a Libertarian Party front group though.
The Democratic Party needs to pay more attention to the pro-2a people on the left. There are a lot of us! There are enough pro-2a Dems in Congress that nothing too terrible happens, though, and I'm thankful for that.
Indigo
· 1 year ago
It isn't all that difficult, John. You point the end of the gun with the hole in it at the bad guy and squeeze the trigger.
Barb_in_DC
· 1 year ago
Don't forget, John, that SCOTUS only ruled on guns IN THE HOME. You still won't be able to walk around the city armed and you won't be armed the next time some rotten kids mug you again. I think it's all a lot of hooey and I know a couple of people in our building who I REALLY don't want to have a gun at all.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Oh well, what are you gonna do?
Start packing heat, John.
And, remember, extra points if you shoot a Repub.
hardeknox
· 1 year ago
John, you'd be in really deep yogurt if you fired at somebody running away, even in gun-crazy Texas.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
I think in Florida you can shoot somebody if you feel threatened.
Between the gang bangers down south and the white trash up north, I pretty much feel threatened every time I'm in that state.
hardeknox
· 1 year ago
Once the threat is over, you'd better not shoot anybody in the back while he's running away. Unless you like being in the legal process and losing your assets trying to defend yourself. Police are trained to use appropriate force. You're not, but are judged by the same standards.
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
CA cops tell me if you have a person in your home that you did not ask to come in they are a home invader, they are a threat to you and your family. In other words shoot to kill, the dead can't make a statement... Just make it a clear frontal shot and keep them inside your home.
txwhtboy
· 1 year ago
Word to wise, Don't ever get legal advice from a cop. Because nine times out of ten it's gonna be wrong. In the legal food chain they're at the bottom. Judges are at the top, start there and work your way down.
Oh yea, only take advice from attorneys that practice in the specific field of your question, i.e. don't ask a tax attorney about knocking off your mother-in-law unless it solely pertains to the Estate Tax.
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
I would not want to knock off my mother in law. I got a real nice one. Better than my real mom for that matter. Sorry to say.
"For a price I will do almost anything, except pull the trigger, for that I need a really good cause." Operation Mindcrime
txwhtboy
· 1 year ago
That is wrong. I went to law school in California and perceived threat is not a defense to justifiable homicide. A reasonable person is only allowed the use of deadly force in defense of home, family or one's own person, if all and any other means of defense or retreat are unavailable or exhausted. That's California Penal Code 197 in layman's terms.
On the other hand, Texas in September of 2007 amended the self-defense rule and removed the ability or availability of retreat as a prerequisite to claim self-defense.
That cop's advice is a one way ticket to Corcoran.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
I got mugged several years ago, and regardless of the motivation of my attackers, after I broke free from them trying to strangle me I was pretty shaken up. I can't imagine I'd have been a real great shot firing at the kids as they ran away from me.
------
Come to think of it, you're probably lucky you weren't carrying a gun.
Sounds like you guys were wrestling around enough that they would have found it and maybe used it.
unrepentant_expat
· 1 year ago
No better way to put down an unwelcome come on.
snark
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
I find a woman with a pistol in hand or on hip to be VERY SEXY. But that is just me...
Busboy
· 1 year ago
John, I don't think you understood the decision. Didn't it affirm the 2nd amendment rights to "keep and BEAR arms"? In OK you have to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon; but you can walk down the street any day of the week with a pistol in your hand or on your hip.
bronco214
· 1 year ago
One more time- gay and Republican in the same sentence is an oxymoron.
bronco214
· 1 year ago
Sorry, missed Busboys comment. You really are Bronze Age, aren't you. The second Ammendment refers to a militia. This is like when someone starts hitting the dinner bell to warn everyone that the Redcoats are coming through the woods. All the citizens would then grab their matchlocks or flintlocks and go defend themselves. Nowadays we have the Army, the Navy etc. that take care of us. Go post on Lil Gangreous Footballs, or something.
Busboy
· 1 year ago
The amendment clearly did not relate to your post. The amendment was debated and clarified by the writers at the time of adoption. Basically, you're full of shit and the supremes just closed the lid on your argument.
ndtovent
· 1 year ago
Gays, guns, and God... well there's at least 2 papier mache pillars helping to prop up LCR's transparent belief system. They need SOMething to cling to for a semblance of validity.
RenoAnne
· 1 year ago
How odd they made a statement without the assistance of their sister organizations The Jewish Nazis and Blacks For The Klan.
Busboy
· 1 year ago
RenoAnne; you don't live here, ...right?
RenoAnne
· 1 year ago
Live where? The US? Or this website? Yes to both. LOL.
benb
· 1 year ago
Sad truth is that most people wouldn't need handguns if they didn't feel so vulnerable..
boogieman
· 1 year ago
Sad truth is that most people would'nt feel vulnerable if there weren't crazies and thugs and gangbangers and meth heads killing us EVERY DAY....
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
Stalin said "Political power comes out of the mouth of a gun."
Translation: Take guns away from the people and you take away there political power. Thank you Supreme Court for siding with the people for once.
txwhtboy
· 1 year ago
You obviously went to public school under Republican controlled financing.
The quote is: "All political power grows from the barrel of a gun" And it's from Mao Tse Tung, Problems of War and Strategy" (November 6, 1938), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 224
"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." Is Stalin's quote and the RNC strategy applied in states too close to call.
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
Mao Tse Tung Right you are on both accounts. I remembered reading it form some place. Did not remember the right name. Thanks for the insult, really makes me feel good to know people like you are soon going to be running the show...
"For a price I will do almost anything, except pull the trigger, for that I need a really good cause." Operation Mindcrime
txwhtboy
· 1 year ago
Sorry if I grazed ya with a bullet. I had been guerrilla blogging the Imperial Rightwing Disinformation Army all day and my trigger finger was twitchy. Didn't mean for you to end up collateral damage in the hazy smoke of gunfire.
Hey you get credit for at least attributing the quote to a Marxist/Leninist. This has been a very interesting string. It seems to me few actually read the opinion. What I interpreted in a nutshell was “What has always been done we will continue to do, neither more nor less, neither here nor there.” It was like Roberts said, “Hey guys, we gotta rule on something or they’re gonna cut our budget. Let’s do the gun one, it should take several reams of paper don’t cha think?”
You know why conservatives are never assassinated? Liberals believe in gun control.
Hangtown Danile
· 1 year ago
You know why conservatives are never assassinated? Liberals believe in gun control.
LOL Now that is funny.
Old Ronnie got shot but that was that crazy guy who was in love with the fat girl from "The facts of life."
"Fat girls need love too... But they got ta' pay." Glenn Quagmier
jkfatface
· 1 year ago
"I got mugged several years ago, and regardless of the motivation of my attackers, after I broke free from them trying to strangle me I was pretty shaken up. I can't imagine I'd have been a real great shot firing at the kids as they ran away from me. I could have just as easily hit the couple standing on the corner right behind the kids."
Cool. Don't carry a gun. He spoke of the *right* to bear arms, not the mandatory requirement.
Not everyone reacts poorly to stress like you. It seems a bit of narcissism to think that others must be legislatively bound by your shortcomings. I have the right to self-defense.
jkfatface
· 1 year ago
Speak up if you're a pro-gun lefty! Everyone should read Mark217's comment below.
Butch1
· 1 year ago
Along with gun ownership comes the responsibility of learning how to fire the weapon. One is also taught to be aware of their surroundings when out, stick to well lighted streets, travel with a friend when possible, stay out of an easy shortcut through an alley, and walk like you have a purpose, make yourself look like you can take care of yourself ( whether you can or not ) and if it is obvious someone is going to attack and you are carrying a gun, pull it out and warn them. If you have martial arts training all the better. Criminals size up their victims before they go after them. The idea is to make one's self look like one could cause a criminal a huge problem if molested or have the potential to injure the criminal. The will ignore you and look for an easier target.
AngelaChanning
· 1 year ago
I was mugged and robbed at gunpoint in Baltimore in 1995 (well it eventually happens to all us Baltimoreans, pumpkins) and like John, I never really felt the need to have a gun in the house or gasp...carry one. Now I realize that anything Log Cabin says is a stretch, but I can understand gays and lesbians living in rural areas needing one for protection, especially if they were being harassed. I did always find it inspired that Suzanne Sugarbaker from Designing Women, slapped NRA stickers on Charlene's door (to send a message to would be intruders) when she came over to babysit. LOL. Anyway, considering that Log Cabin has to meet in secret with their candidate, they are probably not considered the most effective advocacy group within the Republican party. So, it really does not matter what they say because their own party wishes they would disappear. Thank you for listening.
JamesR
· 1 year ago
None of the Log Cabin Republicans I have ever met would know what to do with a gun that they didn't have to fill with water. But making such noise about the Supreme Court opinion du jour might just get them a date with someone at the Rutherford Institute, or Lindsey Graham.
fostert
· 1 year ago
Last time I was mugged, a gun wouldn't have helped me. In fact, they'd have stolen that, too. There really isn't a gun in the world that will help you when someone slips GHB in your beer.
bunnyjump
· 1 year ago
The "self defense" argument is a lot of BS - most incidents happen so quickly that the victim does not have time to assess and respond. And imo the gun carriers are just looking for a reason to shoot.
I have a proposal for responsible gun ownership: 1) All gun buyers must undergo a rigorous national background check before licensing (and if it takes as long as getting a passport-so be it). 2) All firearms must be registered into a national database. 3) Owners must carry firearm liability insurance. 4) Unregistered firearms will be subject to steep fines. 5) Firearms used during a crime will result in confiscation of assets (similar to drug laws). 6) Firearm owners will have to renew licenses periodically (similar driver licenses). 7) Firearm owners will have to register and serve periodically with the national guard.
I find no reason why a responsible gun owner would have any issue with this.
boogieman
· 1 year ago
That's a bunch of horseshit. I have a God-given right to have the ability to meet an attack on myself or my family with a force equal to or greater than that of my attacker. What are you afraid of? When was the last time you heard of a criminal caring about wheather or not the handgun he buys on the street is registered? What useful purpose EXACTLY do you propose registration will serve? So the government will know which LAW ABIDING CITIZENS have guns. Big whoop. And this will accomplish what? When was the last time you turned on the news and the top story was a law-abiding citizen killing someone? Criminals don't give a shit about the law; you should be railing against them, should be addressing the problem of the CRIMINAL ELEMENT and THEIR weapons. Leave good people like myself out of it, because it will be someone like MYSELF who will put a .45 in the chest of the guy that is beating the shit out of you, yelling "how do you like that, FAGGOT?" The question you want to ask yourself is, " do I really want to make it harder for good people to have the ability to defend themselves?"
TheOtherOne
· 1 year ago
Honestly, when they've taken your wallet and are running away, it's NOT self-defense and that's not an appropriate time to be shooting at anyone.
The time to be using the weapon is when they are coming toward you with an intent to harm you - for example, when they've broken into your home at 3 a.m. (assuming it's not a wrong-address drug raid).
mauro7inf
· 1 year ago
I disagree -- a wrong-address drug raid is a perfectly legitimate time to be using that weapon. Plenty of people have been killed in 3 AM wrong-address drug raids, and if anything, there are armed people illegally inside your home with intent to destroy your personal property. If that isn't a reason to apply self-defense, I don't know what is. Police officers still have to follow the law.
TheOtherOne
· 1 year ago
Yeah, actually I was trying (unsuccessfully) to be sarcastic about the fact that when woken up at 3 a.m. by an armed blitz attack, a reasonable person would defend him/herself.
Then, you find out those stormtroopers had badges and wind up in jail . . . . not good . . . . The needed change is for cops to change tactics.
TheOtherOne
· 1 year ago
Yeah, actually I was trying (unsuccessfully) to be sarcastic about the fact that when woken up at 3 a.m. by an armed blitz attack, a reasonable person would defend him/herself.
Then, you find out those stormtroopers had badges and wind up in jail . . . . not good . . . . The needed change is for cops to change tactics.
boogieman
· 1 year ago
Yeah, I agree, but you'll be making a statement and paying for it with your life.....I just do what they say....
TheOtherOne
· 1 year ago
Bunnyjump, you think that as a condition of carrying a weapon to defend myself, I should have to go serve time in Iraq? I don't think so.
I also have objections to any national database that says I have a weapon in my home unless I have reasonable grounds to believe that the data is secured. Yet another database to be mined by hackers and identity thieves isn't a good idea, in my book.
interlude
· 1 year ago
is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
gardengirl
· 1 year ago
Another lefty-pro gun rights reader weighing in here. The Bill of Rights pertains to individual rights and that includes the second amendment. When liberals refuse to give an inch on this issue, it reinforces conservatives' criticisms of us. Gun ownership, like it or not, is part of the culture in many parts of the country. Folks who foolishly voted against their own economic interests by voting for Bush in 2000 and 2004 did so partially because of the gun issue. They think we liberals want to take their guns, even if they are law-abiding. I can hardly blame them.
If you don't want a gun, don't get one. But don't begrudge the rest of us to exercise our Constitutional rights within the confines of the law. We ought to be trusted to be responsible, receive proper training and store our guns safely. And why isn't it a good idea for us to protect ourselves against gay-bashers? It would be a mighty scary thing for an anti-gay bigot to face off with a gun-totin' gay! Right?!
boogieman
· 1 year ago
I'm not gay, just saying....and you're damn right. Maybe a few bigoted white trash rednecks getting their heads blown off for attacking a "faggot" will make the rest of them check their anger the next time......works for me....
mauro7inf
· 1 year ago
Hm, I'm a bit of a moderate when it comes to gun control. I think self-defense is actually a right in the Constitution, specifically self-defense against the government, which is what the Colonists had to do with British soldiers in their houses. (Of course, "it's in the Constitution" doesn't make it good in itself.) In fact, I'm glad people are talking about self-defense rather than hunting. Hunting is not a right. It's kind of idiotic to think that it is, and it's just an excuse to feel all alpha male by holding big, threatening guns at anyone (Ted Nugent holds his machine guns like a terrorist, which is ironic). On the other hand, self-defense is a fairly legitimate use of extreme force, as far as uses of extreme force go, and being able to hold a pistol (after clearing useful hurdles) is, I think, not ridiculous. That said, I don't know what I think about the decision. I certainly don't consider it a "victory". I do appreciate that the purpose being served is a noble one rather than killing animals for fun, or at least shooting seniors in the facial regions.
JamesR
· 1 year ago
Hunting licenses pay for wetlands and wildlife habitat, and, to cite one example of needed game management: the results of hunting control populations of deer, for whom we are responsible for by removing their other predators and increasing their habitat and population. Hunting is regulated and promotes proper and safe firearm use, and within that structure does help provide support for and regulation of a citizen militia. No shit. Think about it. Sure you can't really hunt for anything more challenging than a parking place in DC, the residents of DC can go hunting in Virginia or Maryland and now have their rights restored to keep their weapons safely at home. Ignored in this debate, mostly, is the fact that DC's erstwhile ban included ALL long guns (rifles, shotguns, etc) that were not already owned and registered at the time, in 1976, that the ban went into effect. This clearly went too far and is why the language of hunting is in the opinion I believe.
Ted Nugent is not hunter, he is a psycho. It is easy to demonize hunters as problematic killers, but the great, great majority are completely and absolutely different. Hunting is part of a natural process, and serves to get one attuned to nature. Hunters are environmentalists! Among the best and most active we have. Do the research, it's true. Many of them, probably the same as the national average of non-hunters, are Democrats. [Not including John Kerry, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Gore etc. with their photo-op hunts.]
Dick Cheney is not a hunter either - I know no one word to use, but 'hunter' is not one. Canned hunts of pen-raised animals is so far from what hunting is that the light form hunting will never reach it until the next Big Bang. Ask any real hunter. You can tell a lot about someone's character by how they do what they do, there are 'hunting' stories about Cheney that would curl your hair and makes me want to puke. Sportsmanship apparently is a concept he abhors so much he doesn't even bother to pretend. And he didn't even bother to get a license so he could support wildlife habitat in that famous 'hunt' where he winged a lawyer. He and Nugent are NOT hunters, they are psycho-killer chickenhawks.
Don't follow Republican / Rovian lines of argument bundling extreme and absurd outrageous examples of what ("some say") are similar to taint a whole group and poison the national debate on meaningful issues. We are better than that.
AdmNaismith
· 1 year ago
Why not? You don't mess with a man in heels, and you definitely don't mess with a man in heels holding a pistol. I've been harrassed by a neighbor two doors down, both verbally and physically. He likely had organized criminal ties. I live on the edge of an area more or less controlled by gangs, and had my fence tagged after turning in a gun of theirs to the police (they ditched it in my garden for later retrieval). I don't like guns, philosophically or physically. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who manufactures guns should be rounded up and probably shot in their own right. But until that happens, I like having the option. Besides, the 2nd Amendment was put in place to keep the govt fearful of the populace (regardless of how you specifically interpret the wording). We need that now more than ever- I mean, shooting Dick Cheney in the face would only be considered fair.
Paul_In_SF
· 1 year ago
Well, John, as they say YMMV. I was quite happy to be able to reach behind me and grab the shotgun that I kept in the corner next to my front door when a group of about a dozen punks armed with baseball bats showed up in my yard in Seattle years ago. When the leader demanded that I come outside so that they could "Show you what we do with faggots in this neighborhood" I pulled the gun out and racked a shell. Needless to say they decided to leave. To quote Barrack Obama "I don't do cowering".
pcvirginiabeach
· 1 year ago
Here is the thing. It is a matter of law. Obama has always stated that he beleives that the Second Amendment protects the individual. He is happy to have the USSC finally give some legal direction in the matter of gun ownership and gun rights. Obama is right on this issue. Legally, and politically. Al Gore "lost" the election patially because of his severe position on gun control.
Even Tribe of Harvard, one of the more liberal Consitutional experts, agrees. The Court made the right call here. The Second Amendment applies to individuals. If you want to change it, there is a proper procedure for doing so, Amend the Constitution.
I encourage anyone who wants to take an honest look at the law and the history on this topic to read this.
All Comments
http://www.pinkpistols.org/
The Democratic Party needs to pay more attention to the pro-2a people on the left. There are a lot of us! There are enough pro-2a Dems in Congress that nothing too terrible happens, though, and I'm thankful for that.
Start packing heat, John.
And, remember, extra points if you shoot a Repub.
Between the gang bangers down south and the white trash up north, I pretty much feel threatened every time I'm in that state.
In other words shoot to kill, the dead can't make a statement...
Just make it a clear frontal shot and keep them inside your home.
Oh yea, only take advice from attorneys that practice in the specific field of your question, i.e. don't ask a tax attorney about knocking off your mother-in-law unless it solely pertains to the Estate Tax.
"For a price I will do almost anything, except pull the trigger, for that I need a really good cause." Operation Mindcrime
On the other hand, Texas in September of 2007 amended the self-defense rule and removed the ability or availability of retreat as a prerequisite to claim self-defense.
That cop's advice is a one way ticket to Corcoran.
------
Come to think of it, you're probably lucky you weren't carrying a gun.
Sounds like you guys were wrestling around enough that they would have found it and maybe used it.
snark
But that is just me...
Translation: Take guns away from the people and you take away there political power.
Thank you Supreme Court for siding with the people for once.
The quote is: "All political power grows from the barrel of a gun"
And it's from Mao Tse Tung, Problems of War and Strategy" (November 6, 1938), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 224
"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." Is Stalin's quote and the RNC strategy applied in states too close to call.
Right you are on both accounts. I remembered reading it form some place.
Did not remember the right name.
Thanks for the insult, really makes me feel good to know people like you are soon going to be running the show...
"For a price I will do almost anything, except pull the trigger, for that I need a really good cause." Operation Mindcrime
Hey you get credit for at least attributing the quote to a Marxist/Leninist. This has been a very interesting string. It seems to me few actually read the opinion. What I interpreted in a nutshell was “What has always been done we will continue to do, neither more nor less, neither here nor there.” It was like Roberts said, “Hey guys, we gotta rule on something or they’re gonna cut our budget. Let’s do the gun one, it should take several reams of paper don’t cha think?”
You know why conservatives are never assassinated? Liberals believe in gun control.
LOL Now that is funny.
Old Ronnie got shot but that was that crazy guy who was in love with the fat girl from "The facts of life."
"Fat girls need love too... But they got ta' pay."
Glenn Quagmier
Cool. Don't carry a gun. He spoke of the *right* to bear arms, not the mandatory requirement.
Not everyone reacts poorly to stress like you. It seems a bit of narcissism to think that others must be legislatively bound by your shortcomings. I have the right to self-defense.
I have a proposal for responsible gun ownership:
1) All gun buyers must undergo a rigorous national background check before licensing (and if it takes as long as getting a passport-so be it).
2) All firearms must be registered into a national database.
3) Owners must carry firearm liability insurance.
4) Unregistered firearms will be subject to steep fines.
5) Firearms used during a crime will result in confiscation of assets (similar to drug laws).
6) Firearm owners will have to renew licenses periodically (similar driver licenses).
7) Firearm owners will have to register and serve periodically with the national guard.
I find no reason why a responsible gun owner would have any issue with this.
The time to be using the weapon is when they are coming toward you with an intent to harm you - for example, when they've broken into your home at 3 a.m. (assuming it's not a wrong-address drug raid).
Then, you find out those stormtroopers had badges and wind up in jail . . . . not good . . . . The needed change is for cops to change tactics.
Then, you find out those stormtroopers had badges and wind up in jail . . . . not good . . . . The needed change is for cops to change tactics.
I also have objections to any national database that says I have a weapon in my home unless I have reasonable grounds to believe that the data is secured. Yet another database to be mined by hackers and identity thieves isn't a good idea, in my book.
If you don't want a gun, don't get one. But don't begrudge the rest of us to exercise our Constitutional rights within the confines of the law. We ought to be trusted to be responsible, receive proper training and store our guns safely. And why isn't it a good idea for us to protect ourselves against gay-bashers? It would be a mighty scary thing for an anti-gay bigot to face off with a gun-totin' gay! Right?!
Ted Nugent is not hunter, he is a psycho. It is easy to demonize hunters as problematic killers, but the great, great majority are completely and absolutely different. Hunting is part of a natural process, and serves to get one attuned to nature. Hunters are environmentalists! Among the best and most active we have. Do the research, it's true. Many of them, probably the same as the national average of non-hunters, are Democrats. [Not including John Kerry, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Gore etc. with their photo-op hunts.]
Dick Cheney is not a hunter either - I know no one word to use, but 'hunter' is not one. Canned hunts of pen-raised animals is so far from what hunting is that the light form hunting will never reach it until the next Big Bang. Ask any real hunter. You can tell a lot about someone's character by how they do what they do, there are 'hunting' stories about Cheney that would curl your hair and makes me want to puke. Sportsmanship apparently is a concept he abhors so much he doesn't even bother to pretend. And he didn't even bother to get a license so he could support wildlife habitat in that famous 'hunt' where he winged a lawyer. He and Nugent are NOT hunters, they are psycho-killer chickenhawks.
Don't follow Republican / Rovian lines of argument bundling extreme and absurd outrageous examples of what ("some say") are similar to taint a whole group and poison the national debate on meaningful issues. We are better than that.
I've been harrassed by a neighbor two doors down, both verbally and physically. He likely had organized criminal ties. I live on the edge of an area more or less controlled by gangs, and had my fence tagged after turning in a gun of theirs to the police (they ditched it in my garden for later retrieval).
I don't like guns, philosophically or physically. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who manufactures guns should be rounded up and probably shot in their own right. But until that happens, I like having the option.
Besides, the 2nd Amendment was put in place to keep the govt fearful of the populace (regardless of how you specifically interpret the wording). We need that now more than ever- I mean, shooting Dick Cheney in the face would only be considered fair.
Even Tribe of Harvard, one of the more liberal Consitutional experts, agrees. The Court made the right call here. The Second Amendment applies to individuals. If you want to change it, there is a proper procedure for doing so, Amend the Constitution.
I encourage anyone who wants to take an honest look at the law and the history on this topic to read this.
http://www.guncite.com/journals/embar.html
And I know that I would have spent the rest of my life thinking about how I killed two 16-year-old crack addicts. And that's not a good life.