Sadly, as a Canadian, I really can't comment on US law. That said, my personal opinion as a member of the human race is that there shouldn't be any guns available to anyone except the police and the military. If we can get all of the guns off the streets and out of the hands of criminals, things might get a whole lot better.
We have so few gun-related deaths in Canada as compared to the US, it's truly frightening. You have thousands down there and we have trouble breaking into the hundreds. It's not that we don't have it here, we do. Just nowhere near the numbers. This is largely because we have very few guns in the hands of the public up here (and because we have a much smaller population than the US). Less guns on the streets means fewer killings with firearms. It's just that simple.
I do understand why there is such determination to keep the constitutional right upheld - that everyone has the right to bear arms. It was written into your constitution in order to enable the common American to be able to defend the country and themselves against invaders. Sounds like it makes sense. It even makes sense when you consider how many world governments get overthrown by a military coup and all democracy is tossed out the window at the point of a gun. You obey or you die. I get it. But do you really believe that this is what's going to happen down there? Is the everyday American citizen so afraid of their own government and the military that they need to have a dozen or more guns in their homes at all times?
While I see a certain logic in being able to raise an army at a moment's notice in the case of a large scale invasion by a foreign power, I can't really see how much good it's going to do. It's not like the US (or Canada) has manditory military training for all of its citizens (male and female). This ragtag army will be undisciplined, untrained, and quite possibly more dangerous in some ways than the invaders, despite their best efforts to be helpful. A bunch of dudes (and dudettes) who are awesome at Call Of Duty isn't the same thing at all as a fully experienced militia. A lack of discipline and training leads to friendly fire.
No offense is meant by my opinion. It's just that: an opinion. Guns shouldn't be in the hands of everyone everywhere for any reason. There are too many accidents and outright crimes committed all because someone could get their hands on a firearm far too easily. Gun control laws don't go nearly far enough. It should be an all-out ban.
