Reply #36: Here is my take: [View All]

[SteveM]

(1) There should be state laws governing minimum age for purchase of firearms (handguns & long guns would have diff. ages);
(2) There should be state/federal laws preventing purchase of firearms by felons & adjudicated mental incompetents; and
(3) No infringement on a citizen's right to keep and bear arms; states may reasonably regulate the manner of bearing arms.

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As to your views on firearm deterrence, I do not believe a firearm will guarantee deterrence of a government entity with a monopoly on violence, or a thug with a deadly weapon. (Here, I see "deterrence" as causing an entity or individual to change its policy or mind when contemplating a choice to wield "absolute power over us.") Firearms may, however, provide considerable power to the citizen to defend him/herself from an actual attack. This is self-defense, however, and not social policy based on deterrent effect.