Not really sure if we are still even discussing the topic of guns, but I'll share my opinion anyway (since you all care so much what I think
).
I am usually pretty liberal, so you already probably have a good idea of my stance.
The 2nd amendment does guarantee the right to bear arms, yes. However, the Constitution does not specify how easy or hard it should be to acquire one. It's also debatable whether or not the constitution affords individual citizens the right to bear arms, or state militias (basically, whether or not the federal government is the only entity that can possess guns). Let's assume the former: that individual citizens have the right to bear arms. Here's what I think should be done so that people cannot get guns easily, but our constitutional rights are not trampled on. I believe that the standards and licensing needed to purchase/acquire a gun should be so tight, limiting, and have so many stipulations that it would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to acquire a gun if you don't really know how to use it. People claim that guns are necessary for self-defense: I disagree, if people didn't have guns, we wouldn't need them to protect ourselves. Many of you will argue that burglars and criminals will get guns even if they are impossible to get legally: in my opinion (note that i said my opinion), this is untrue. Yes, the Mafia and organized crime gangs will get guns, but your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, burglar, probably will not. Jared Loughner and James Holmes purchased their weapons legally: if they had to have gotten licensing, underwent background checks, had to have their mental competency verified, they could never have gotten them. They weren't the type to go to great lengths to get them illegally, they just took advantage of a weak and loose gun control system.
So, that's my opinion in a nutshell: we wouldn't need guns to protect ourselves if criminals didn't have them in the first place.
In England and much of Europe, it's nearly impossible to get a gun illegally. The murder rates in England and Europe are drastically lower compared to here. That says something.
Many would debate that restricting gun ownership would give birth to a 1920s Prohibition in the 21st century. Meaning, just as alcohol consumption didn't stop due to Prohibition, neither would gun use. I don't agree: one, people get addicted to alcohol, not guns in the same way. 2ndly, people can make alcohol in their kitchens, but its pretty difficult to make a gun in your backyard.
Lastly, even if people want to use hunting guns, no one needs a semiautomatic machine gun for protection. In 2004, the ban on military-style weapons was struck down. On 20 July 2012, we saw the repercussions of this.
Happy political debating,
3.14pi
"Mathematics is the queen of sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other natural sciences, but in all relations she is entitled to the first rank."~Karl Friedrich Gauss