I was just speaking on general frustration, not asserting that anyone was right/wrong or disrespectful or whatever. In my mind, though, telling someone to 'go play with their gun' (which is also one that i got), is just ad hominem straight up.

As opposed to a truly respectful: I disagree. Here is what I advocate and why." and if i -- say on FB again -- say but what about the 14th amendment, they talk about "yes, we need more help for people who are mentally ill." True, but not truly at issue in terms of gun control -- that's a whole other set of law (health care related stuff). So if we are talking about gun control and mental health screenings, we are talking 14th amendment stuff. God forbid someone ask a question about how to overcome those issues with what they're advocating without being told to "go play with your guns" or "sorry that you're such a right-wing nut job." Or, even better, "everyone should have to go through weekly checks in their homes to make sure their guns are safe -- one I heard today because 'we ticket for people who don't wear bicycle helmets on the road, afterall. Ok, not comparable law -- because you are freely out in freaking public AND you're only likely to hurt yourself if you happen to fall off your bike, and all of the sudden the 5th amendment for search without cause is somehow considered hunky-dory?

Ask that question, and you obviously don't care about little kids who live in homes with "live" weapons. Seeing as most of my high school friends (who are male) live in homes with both weapons and small children, I actually DO care and I also know that responsible parenting may or may not coincide with gun ownership, but I don't think illegal search and seizure (or 5th amendment due process concerns) should really go there.

Doesn't make me a bad person to be concerned about weekly police checks or asserting that it's possibly wrong-headed to use a vague term like "limiting access to 'mentally ill' people is a problem under the 14th amendment. it's too vague is part of the problem, and mental illness is too shifty to create a clear line. and how we get access to whehter or not a person is mentally ill? That's probably another 5th amendment issue.

Yes, bringing up these concerns is NOT about guns. It could be about access to raw milk for freak's sake (and it often is, btw, in the circles where I run). Guns are just the current "idea" at play. The 14th amendment had to do with a lot of different things, incluing access to educational resources, so. . . yeah.