You're obviously a smart guy, but I've got to ask: Do you get that, in the minds of those who want to further restrict gun ownership, once they are successful with doing so, they are already thinking on the next priority item having to do with ruling over those who oppose them?
Absolutely, hence the worst case scenario which is a constitutional change.
In reality there is a minority that is no guns a minority that is all weapons including tanks, stinger missiles etc. The rest of us are in the middle and we need to figure out how to get along.
Though numerous conversations in real life, on this forum and through personal experience I recognize that many gun laws are totally ineffective. We, gun owners, seem to spend 99% of the time talking about how dumb the laws are and not enough time talking about solutions.
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Hunting laws v. fair chase
We all seem to be totally fine with imposing additional, personal, restrictions on our own hunting. Also we discuss new hunting regs all the time, in fact sometimes orgs like RMEF, DU, BHA, actually advocate for new laws like wanton waste, ATV travel, use of drones, baiting, methods of take, etc.
So... why can't we even have the discussion about new gun laws or rules? PETA wants to shut down all hunting, doesn't keep us from those discussions. I would argue that hunters do a pretty good job of spear heading conservation discussions.
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Lots of gun laws out there that are dumb. One that I'm actually on board with (on paper) are mandatory wait times. I've never
needed to impulse buy a gun. Do I want that law, not really. Though I can see with regards to crimes of passion/suicide etc it might help reduce deaths. Won't really do much with criminals, but might help stop otherwise good people from making a bad call in an altered state of mind.
Universal background checks... I've had a background check for every gun I've purchased so that one seems reasonable.
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Law I don't like, anything that takes your guns away if you seek mental health treatment. Life can be a real mother access to mental health services needs to be as easy as possible. I don't want ever want, well I'll never be able to hunt again or go to the range, to be a reason why someone doesn't get the help they need.
Seeking help is a responsible behavior we should encourage.
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The rural urban divide is a real issue. My context of firearm ownership has always been hunting, shooting sports, protection. I can tell you what in the context of MA and getting your gun license it's 99% about getting hand guns, and mostly about concealed carry. The class I had to take and asking for rule clarification from the FRB, I got the sense that most people in Boston who want guns tend to use them on folks or targets shaped like folks.
I fully support guns for protection and concealed carry... just probably not the first thing a lot of us are thinking about when we like of people buying their first gun.