well... i've heard the 2nd amendment being mentioned everytime the weapon question comes into the light... so, i read it (there are several versions, one that was adopted by Congress, the other versions that were ratified by states)... it was adopted in 1791 (!), when the private citizens were expected to bring their own weapons into the State sponsored militia... There is nothing more to the 2nd amendment, nothing less... the times were rough, the indians were not friendly (rightfully so), the weapons were necessary - while you are plowing your fields and are being attack by indians, you wanted to have a weapon handy...

over the years the 2nd amendment went viral - people did not want disarm themselves, and wanted to keep expensive guns... The law interpretations went to the extent, that nobody remembers about the militia anymore but right to bear (to bring your own weapon once deputized into militia) has become the right to just HAVE the arms...

I do not see mass shootings involving laser blasters when people and buildings are cut in half... why?... maybe because there are NONE of those blasters in the hands of anyone!!! I do not see nuclear missiles offered for sale at the gun shows... strange - gun is a gun is a gun...

How comes that US is so much worried about prolifiration of weapons worldwide (not just nukes, conventional weapons as well) in the hands of professional, trained military personnel as a THREAT to our security and is NOT worried about proliferation of weapons in the domestic market in hands of untrained, unstabled private citizens? Threat is a threat is a threat.

Slick, you know what Anton Pavlovich said about a rifle hanging on the wall in the first act of a show... I totally understand the desire to protect yourself, and your family from the crooks that have the guns - but the venue chosen is not the best path... even my mother has a handgun... which worries me - if my kids don't find it, what if she flies off the handle when they drive her crazy with ice cream smeared all over the walls.. even the most normal person can go crazy...

I would take a mass knifer with bare hands but will think twice about using my handgun on a mass shooter (пуля - дура, штык - молодец)

I think, all those mass shootings in the US should be considered as acts of TERROR - I worry every time I go to a mall, or Wal-Mart, or take the kids to a movie theater - this is THE very definition of a terror instilled in the general populace by those acts, when daily routine is disrupted enough to cause personal and societal discomfort...