Believe it or not, I diverge from the traditional liberal thinking about guns. I think everyone who wants ’em should have ’em. Even assault weapons. But the NRA should lay off the “assault weapons are for sport” bullshit. They’re not for hunting, they’re not for target shooting. Assault weapons are for the efficient slaughter of large groups of humans. And I’m OK with that. Sometimes you just need to slaughter a large group of humans.

See, I actually do agree with the NRA when they bring up the Second Amendment and say “…the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” And I agree with the gun nuts when they foresee having to beat back a tyrannical occupier, be it government or invader, with a citizen militia.

Liberals will argue that these guns are most often used by terrorists and criminals. I agree, but so what? Just because some people use their guns illegally means that citizens should not be able to possess those guns legally?

We’ll also argue that no matter what guns the citizens have, the Army will always have bigger better ones, so the argument about beating back a tyrannical government is nonsense. I disagree. It seems to be working quite well for the citizens of Fallujah.

But where I differ with the NRA is with the first part (that they always seem to leave out): “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,…” I’m all for you and me having assault weapons, so long as our possession of them is well regulated.

By that I mean registration and licensing (you have to register and license a car, why not a gun?) You can own all the guns you want, but the public has the right to know you have them. And if the cops notice that you’re building an arsenal stronger than necessary to defend your family and property, they have the right to keep tabs on you, to make sure your “Militia” is “necessary to the security of a free State.”

I also demand training. You have to pass care, cleaning, marksmanship, and safety classes AT LEAST as rigorous as what I had to go through in the Army to fire my M-16. And you should have to keep your certification current through testing every two years to keep your assault weapons license.

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