I have to laugh at threads such as this. You can tell from the original post that it isn't a query that is truly oriented to getting a fair response. It even starts off with the title that turns out to be ploy at misdirection.
A felon's right to self defense
So you think this is about self defense, but then we find it is about weapon possession by a felon. The two are not the same issue at all.
Then we find the main character who is the felon is made out to be this wife and mother of made a mistake as a young dumb kid, hence the felony conviction for marijuana. So the author is pulling a pseudo Sally Struthers and making an appeal to emotion on the level of classifying the felon now as a wife and mother (both good wholesome things) who is apparently now much smarter and older than when she committed her non-violent drug crime, only she wasn't a dumb kid when she got her felony conviction, but an adult.
End of story and the pontification starts and we see the subtle, yet quite expected mixing of words...
My point you might as ask... everyone has a right to defend themselves. That means everyone from the crack dealer on the corner to the President.
Regardless of your criminal past you should still be able to maintain a firearm in your dwelling.
Everyone has a right to self defense is then morphed into everyone should be able to maintain a firearm in the home. Note that everyone does have a right to self defense. This isn't an issue that the thread is made out to be. We are not lacking laws that allow for self defense and protect the right of self defense. Instead, this is a gun possession issue where the author is claiming self defense and gun ownership as being somehow equal.
I really liked the conditions. Everyone, felons included, should be able to possess guns at home. Okay. Then is the caveat that they can take them to and from the range. So we are no longer dealing with a felon with a gun at home, but also driving around to whatever ranges they want to visit.
I say that if you get caught with it outside of your home (other than being able to prove you were going to or returning from a range) it is jail time. No questions asked, off to jail for a long while.
If you get caught with a gun outside of the home and you aren't going to the range or coming home from it, then off to jail you go...but you know full well when you get out, you get to have another gun when you get home?
This makes me wonder. If this is really an argument about self defense via gun possession, then why does a felon only have the right of self defense with a gun at home (or when going and coming from the range)?
What about states that consider one's vehicle as an extension of the home? In those states, do felons get to carry firearms in their cars?
I liked the whole business about getting a hall pass for the gunsmith. That was cute.