Quote Originally Posted by Williamsmith View Post
If America did this they would have to take and destroy up to 100 million guns from millions of citizens whose primary reason for owning them in the first place is to prevent a tyrannical government from confiscating them.
So the primary reason millions of people own guns is to prevent the government from confiscating those same guns? That sounds a little circular to me.

People own guns for all kinds of reasons, from the eminently practical to the what's-he-compensating-for pathetic. My view is that the government must justify its actions to the citizens, and not the other way around. Americans shouldn't need to provide a reason for wanting a gun any more than they need to provide a reason for opting out of public school or wearing white after Labor Day. I don't think it matters that the founders didn't foresee automatic weapons any more than the First Amendment is invalid because they didn't foresee the internet.