I wrote this up, being careful to make it as accurate and biased as I know how. Hopefully, it expresses most of our views. What do 'ya think? Any improvments or questions that should be added?
----------
The Second Amendment states: "A well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
The founding fathers meant militia to mean:
A) The National Guard or a standing army
B) ordinary people, supplying their own arms
In current law, militia is defined as:
A) the National Guard
B) all able-bodied male citizens, or those who have declared the intention to become citizens, 17 and older, as well as the national guard, as defined in Title 10 of United States law.
In this amendment the word "right" means:
A) privilege, which can be taken away at the government's discretion
B) "right"- the same as freedom of speech, religion and assembly and others
In this amendment, the word "people" means:
A) the state government
B) members of an army
C) ordinary people, just like in Freedom of Assembly, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures (1st and 4th amendments).
"Keep and bear" means:
A) the state governments can maintain arsenals
B) "the people" can own and carry weapons
"Arms" refers
A) only to muskets
B) only to weapons with a "sporting purpose"
C) to firearms with a military, offensive or defensive, purpose
"Shall not be infringed" means
A) Shall be heavily taxed, regulated, banned, etc as the government sees fit
B) The federal government is only being restricted here. State governments are free to "infringe" this right as they wish, since the Bill of Rights does not apply to the states.
C) The right to "keep and bear arms" of ordinary people shall not be infringed by anyone.
If the supreme court decides that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" is not to be taken literally, they are obviously
A) Following the letter of the constitution
B) Following the intention of the framers
C) Ignoring the letter and intention of the constitution and its framers
If I owned a gun, I would:
A) be greatly tempted to shoot a friend or loved one in a moment of rage
B) leave it out for little kids to play with
C) shoot people dead after car accidents in a fit of "road rage"
D) decide to kill myself
E) pretend I was a vigilante in the "wild west" and take the law into my own hands
E) store it carefully and try to use it legally and wisely for self-defense and recreation
If I was a criminal, I started my life of crime because:
A) I murdered a friend of loved one in a single fit of rage
B) It is possible to buy guns
C) I have disregard for laws, and the lives and property of others
D) drug addiction, poverty, etc.
If I was a criminal, and a gun registration law was enacted, I would:
A) Immediately register my guns so I would be complying with the law.
B) Get rid of my guns
C) Ignore the law, keep my guns, and carry them as I please.
If my state passed a "shall issue" Right to Carry law, and I was a criminal, I would:
A) Apply for one immediately, so I would be complying with the law as I carried my weapon to rob, kill, etc. I would hope the background check would not turn up one of my felonies.
B) Realized my illegal carrying of a weapon is immoral, and immediately give it up.
C) Kill everyone I saw during the commission of a crime, because they might be armed
D) Ignore the law, and continue carrying anyway, hoping I wasn't shot dead by a citizen carrying legally.
If I was a criminal, I would prefer my victims have:
A) small, easily concealable handguns
B) Any type of gun
C) No guns at all
If I was a criminal, I would want my victims to:
A) shoot me
B) stab, hit or club me
C) Follow the advice of Handgun Control Inc and "Don't resist!"
If I were a criminal, I would:
A) choose victims I knew were armed
B) kill everyone I saw during a crime, because they might be armed
C) it would make no difference, because I have no fear of being shot
D) avoid committing crimes near anyone I suspected was armed.
If I were a criminal, and my potential victim suddenly pointed a gun at me, I would immediately think:
A) "I think I'll take it away, and use it against him/her!"
B) "Oh, #@%&!!!!!!!"
If I was a criminal, and my state banned cheap, low caliber handguns, I would:
A) Give up my life of crime, now that my "weapon of choice" was illegal
B) Keep and use the "SNS"s I already have, or obtain them through illegal channels
C) Use only knives and clubs from now on
E) Obtain a better quality, more powerful gun
F) do nothing, because I use more expensive, powerful guns in the first place
If I was a criminal, and if all handguns were banned, I would:
A) turn in my guns, so I would be complying with the law
B) keep and use the handguns I already have, or obtain them through illegal channels
C) Switch to more powerful shotguns and rifles
If I was a criminal, and "assault weapons" were banned, I would
A) immediately turn in my assault weapons
B) make plans to get one of these cool, menacing-looking guns
C) do nothing, because criminals like myself use them in only 1% if crimes
D) obtain and use functionally identical weapons, minus the bayonet mount, flash suppressor and other useful features.
If I was a criminal, and high capacity magazines were banned, I would:
A) decide not to shoot up a playground full of kids, which I had my heart set on doing
B) use the high-capacity mags I already have, or obtain them through illegal channels
C) carry a several extra 10 round clips, and change them out in a few seconds during my protracted gun battles
D) do nothing, because I rarely have to fire more than a few shots, if any, during a commission of crime.
If I was the dictator of a totalitarian state, I would want
A) my people to have free access to all sorts of weapons
B) to severely restrict gun ownership, or eliminate it.
Repressive police states are easier to maintain if
A) everyone who wants to own a gun, and does not have a criminal record can do so
B) only the police and military have weapons
Self defense shootings with a gun
A) never happen, because the police are always there when you need them
B) are morally wrong, because the lives of criminals are worth more than the lives of their victims
C) are foolish, because criminals don't hurt people who submit to them
D) are morally and legally right
If I woke up in the night, and realized there was an intruder in the house, the item I would want most would be:
A) a phone to call the police
B) a club or other blunt object
C) a knife or pepper spray
D) a gun
If I had a gun, and was going to be attacked, I would want the gun to have:
A) no bullets
B) two or three bullets
C) six bullets
D) ten bullets
E) as many bullets as is practical to use with that weapon
If my home or business was being approached by a mob of looters or rioters, I would want
A) a phone to call the police
B) a club, knife, or pepper spray
C) no weapon at all, because I will use reason to persuade them to leave me and my property alone
D) a gun with 6-10 rounds
E) a powerful gun with many rounds in the clip
If I was being attacked, the most effective thing to do would be to
A) allow myself to be murdered, assaulted, etc, and not resist
B) scratch, bite, and hit the attacker
C) shoot the attacker, or scare him into retreating with a gun
Police
A) almost always arrive on the scene of a crime in order to stop harm from occurring
B) often arrive in time to prevent crime
C) occasionally arrive in time to prevent a crime from occurring
D) almost always come after the fact to fill out a report.
If I was on a subway car, and a lunatic started shooting people randomly, the person I would most want to have in the car with me would be:
A) Sarah Brady, of HCI
B) the director of the Violence Policy Center
C) a social worker to talk him into stopping murdering people
D) Charleton Heston, with a concealed weapon
Gun registration will
A) lower crime because criminals will be caught when they try to register their weapons
B) lower crime because when the police make "sweeps" through poor neighborhoods, searching everyone (or at least minorities), and those without proper registration for their guns will be arrested.
C) make it easier to confiscate those guns at a later date.
Waiting periods for gun ownership will
A) stop criminals from murdering people, because, after these criminals pass their background check, they will have to wait a certain period of time before they can get their gun.
B) stop suicides, because suicidal people stop being suicidal during a waiting period, and they will not use other methods to kill themselves, namely, slashing, drowning, hanging, overdose, gassing with car exhaust, or jumping off a bridge or building.
C) stop crimes of passion, because if I hate someone enough to kill them, I won't once the waiting period has elapsed.
D) make it harder for people who are being stalked or threatened to buy a gun for immediate protection.
"Sniper rifles" are:
A) $6,500 fifty caliber weapons, that are used so often in crime they should be banned
B) Any powerful rifle capable of holding a scope, bolt action or semi-auto, and they should be banned.
C) hard to define, as virtually any decent rifle can be called one. They have many legitimate uses.
I think that:
A) Guns are evil objects, whose only purpose is to murder people
B) Guns are tools, and in the hands of good people they are used for good, and in the hands of evil people they are used for evil.
If I point a loaded gun at someone and pull the trigger, and the person dies, it is
A) the fault of the gun manufacturer
B) the fault of the owner of the gun (if it was not my gun)
C) my fault
Guns accidentally
A) kill many, many people every year in accidents, and are a major and growing problem
B) kill less people than accidental drowning, suffocation, car accidents, medical mistakes, and almost every other cause of death big enough for statistics to be recorded (with a death rate of about .4 per 100,000, compared to vastly more for these other kinds of deaths).
Cheap, low caliber guns (Saturday Night Specials) should be
A) banned, because criminals can't afford guns that cost $50-100 more, and thus they would go without
B) banned, because poor people don't need a weapon they can afford, because the police will protect them
C) banned, because this "weapon of choice for criminals" is unable to fire a bullet once it is in the hand of an ordinary person, and thus is useless for self-defense.
D) allowed, as long as they don't blow up in your hand, or are otherwise grossly defective
Guns now are only allowed to be imported if they are decided to be adaptable for a "sporting purpose."
A) this is good, because it is morally wrong or foolish to defend yourself from attack, so self-defense is not a legitimate reason for owning a gun.
B) this a great idea, because it would ban small handguns, regardless of safety, price or quality
C) this is bad, because the law does not recognize the defensive and militia uses of guns, and allows the government to ban any gun they decide is not sufficiently "sporting."
There is a proposal to put all domestically manufactured guns under the same regulation as imported ones. This is:
A) a great idea, because it would ban small handguns, regardless of safety, price or quality
B) a bad idea, because it would give certain government officials the ability to ban any gun they deemed did not have a "sporting purpose."
"Smart guns" which are intended to stop an "unauthorized person" from firing the gun (by means of an electronic bracelet or some other device)
A) should be required by law to replace all other guns, though they do not yet exist in a marketable form, and will add $400-500 to the cost of a gun, and may potentially malfunction
B) should be required by law, because criminals won't wear a wrist bracelet to let them use their gun
C) should only exist as one option available to gun buyers
Guns that can be used by "children" should
A) be illegal, because the gun should be very complicated to use
B) be illegal, and gun should require "proof of age" before they will allow the trigger to be pulled
C) be allowed, because in order for a gun to be effective, it must be simple
Should guns should always be kept unloaded and locked up when not in immediate use?
A) yes, so they will be unusable in the event to a violent attack
B) only if they are not intended for defensive purposes. A "quick open" touch safe or similar device may be ok in many situations
Should "trigger locks" be required on all guns sold?
A) yes, since they can only be used on unloaded guns, it will encourage people to leave their guns in an inoperable state, where they will be useless in the event of an emergency
B) yes, criminals are unable to use guns that come with trigger locks
C) no, different gun owners have different storage needs which may or may not include a trigger lock
If a kid or other person steals my gun and uses it in a crime, it is
A) my fault, and I should be fined or punished for it
B) the fault of the person who committed the crime
Our government
A) would never abuse its power or strip citizens of their civil rights
B) might try to abuse its power, but the supreme court and the ACLU would stop them
C) has abused its power in the past, and stripped citizens of their rights- such as the Japanese citizens put in concentration camps, ruled constitutional by the supreme court.
If I were in a crowd, and an insane person started shooting people randomly, I would
A) hope no one in the crowd was carrying a concealed weapon, as some innocent person could be accidentally hit by his bullets
B) hope someone in the crowd was carrying a gun, so they could shoot the attacker, and we would not all be cut down like cattle.
If I had a concealed carry permit, and was carrying a gun, I would
A) blow people away in incidents of "road rage"
B) shoot people that insult me
C) kill anyone I saw trying to steal hubcaps, etc.
D) try to avoid confrontations, and use it only in life-threatening situations
I think if I had a big sign in front of my house, saying "THERE ARE NO GUNS IN THIS HOUSE!"
A) I would be safer, as criminals respect a person with non-violent beliefs
B) it would make no difference, as criminals are not deterred by the thought of being shot
C) I would be at least somewhat more likely to be targeted for a crime
Most people murdered are killed by
A) friends and loved ones
B) people they know, but don't get along with (enemies, pimps, pushers, fellow criminals, abusive and violent people in their town)
When Jesus said "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one." (Luke 22:36) He
A) obviously mean something very spiritual, complicated and metaphorical
B) meant that the disciples should have a few swords for self defense
If my neighbor commits a crime with his gun
A) all my neighbors should have their guns taken away
B) I should have my gun taken away
C) my neighbor should have his gun taken away, in addition to whatever other punishment is mandated for the crime
[This message has been edited by BTR (edited July 24, 1999).]
----------
The Second Amendment states: "A well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
The founding fathers meant militia to mean:
A) The National Guard or a standing army
B) ordinary people, supplying their own arms
In current law, militia is defined as:
A) the National Guard
B) all able-bodied male citizens, or those who have declared the intention to become citizens, 17 and older, as well as the national guard, as defined in Title 10 of United States law.
In this amendment the word "right" means:
A) privilege, which can be taken away at the government's discretion
B) "right"- the same as freedom of speech, religion and assembly and others
In this amendment, the word "people" means:
A) the state government
B) members of an army
C) ordinary people, just like in Freedom of Assembly, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures (1st and 4th amendments).
"Keep and bear" means:
A) the state governments can maintain arsenals
B) "the people" can own and carry weapons
"Arms" refers
A) only to muskets
B) only to weapons with a "sporting purpose"
C) to firearms with a military, offensive or defensive, purpose
"Shall not be infringed" means
A) Shall be heavily taxed, regulated, banned, etc as the government sees fit
B) The federal government is only being restricted here. State governments are free to "infringe" this right as they wish, since the Bill of Rights does not apply to the states.
C) The right to "keep and bear arms" of ordinary people shall not be infringed by anyone.
If the supreme court decides that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" is not to be taken literally, they are obviously
A) Following the letter of the constitution
B) Following the intention of the framers
C) Ignoring the letter and intention of the constitution and its framers
If I owned a gun, I would:
A) be greatly tempted to shoot a friend or loved one in a moment of rage
B) leave it out for little kids to play with
C) shoot people dead after car accidents in a fit of "road rage"
D) decide to kill myself
E) pretend I was a vigilante in the "wild west" and take the law into my own hands
E) store it carefully and try to use it legally and wisely for self-defense and recreation
If I was a criminal, I started my life of crime because:
A) I murdered a friend of loved one in a single fit of rage
B) It is possible to buy guns
C) I have disregard for laws, and the lives and property of others
D) drug addiction, poverty, etc.
If I was a criminal, and a gun registration law was enacted, I would:
A) Immediately register my guns so I would be complying with the law.
B) Get rid of my guns
C) Ignore the law, keep my guns, and carry them as I please.
If my state passed a "shall issue" Right to Carry law, and I was a criminal, I would:
A) Apply for one immediately, so I would be complying with the law as I carried my weapon to rob, kill, etc. I would hope the background check would not turn up one of my felonies.
B) Realized my illegal carrying of a weapon is immoral, and immediately give it up.
C) Kill everyone I saw during the commission of a crime, because they might be armed
D) Ignore the law, and continue carrying anyway, hoping I wasn't shot dead by a citizen carrying legally.
If I was a criminal, I would prefer my victims have:
A) small, easily concealable handguns
B) Any type of gun
C) No guns at all
If I was a criminal, I would want my victims to:
A) shoot me
B) stab, hit or club me
C) Follow the advice of Handgun Control Inc and "Don't resist!"
If I were a criminal, I would:
A) choose victims I knew were armed
B) kill everyone I saw during a crime, because they might be armed
C) it would make no difference, because I have no fear of being shot
D) avoid committing crimes near anyone I suspected was armed.
If I were a criminal, and my potential victim suddenly pointed a gun at me, I would immediately think:
A) "I think I'll take it away, and use it against him/her!"
B) "Oh, #@%&!!!!!!!"
If I was a criminal, and my state banned cheap, low caliber handguns, I would:
A) Give up my life of crime, now that my "weapon of choice" was illegal
B) Keep and use the "SNS"s I already have, or obtain them through illegal channels
C) Use only knives and clubs from now on
E) Obtain a better quality, more powerful gun
F) do nothing, because I use more expensive, powerful guns in the first place
If I was a criminal, and if all handguns were banned, I would:
A) turn in my guns, so I would be complying with the law
B) keep and use the handguns I already have, or obtain them through illegal channels
C) Switch to more powerful shotguns and rifles
If I was a criminal, and "assault weapons" were banned, I would
A) immediately turn in my assault weapons
B) make plans to get one of these cool, menacing-looking guns
C) do nothing, because criminals like myself use them in only 1% if crimes
D) obtain and use functionally identical weapons, minus the bayonet mount, flash suppressor and other useful features.
If I was a criminal, and high capacity magazines were banned, I would:
A) decide not to shoot up a playground full of kids, which I had my heart set on doing
B) use the high-capacity mags I already have, or obtain them through illegal channels
C) carry a several extra 10 round clips, and change them out in a few seconds during my protracted gun battles
D) do nothing, because I rarely have to fire more than a few shots, if any, during a commission of crime.
If I was the dictator of a totalitarian state, I would want
A) my people to have free access to all sorts of weapons
B) to severely restrict gun ownership, or eliminate it.
Repressive police states are easier to maintain if
A) everyone who wants to own a gun, and does not have a criminal record can do so
B) only the police and military have weapons
Self defense shootings with a gun
A) never happen, because the police are always there when you need them
B) are morally wrong, because the lives of criminals are worth more than the lives of their victims
C) are foolish, because criminals don't hurt people who submit to them
D) are morally and legally right
If I woke up in the night, and realized there was an intruder in the house, the item I would want most would be:
A) a phone to call the police
B) a club or other blunt object
C) a knife or pepper spray
D) a gun
If I had a gun, and was going to be attacked, I would want the gun to have:
A) no bullets
B) two or three bullets
C) six bullets
D) ten bullets
E) as many bullets as is practical to use with that weapon
If my home or business was being approached by a mob of looters or rioters, I would want
A) a phone to call the police
B) a club, knife, or pepper spray
C) no weapon at all, because I will use reason to persuade them to leave me and my property alone
D) a gun with 6-10 rounds
E) a powerful gun with many rounds in the clip
If I was being attacked, the most effective thing to do would be to
A) allow myself to be murdered, assaulted, etc, and not resist
B) scratch, bite, and hit the attacker
C) shoot the attacker, or scare him into retreating with a gun
Police
A) almost always arrive on the scene of a crime in order to stop harm from occurring
B) often arrive in time to prevent crime
C) occasionally arrive in time to prevent a crime from occurring
D) almost always come after the fact to fill out a report.
If I was on a subway car, and a lunatic started shooting people randomly, the person I would most want to have in the car with me would be:
A) Sarah Brady, of HCI
B) the director of the Violence Policy Center
C) a social worker to talk him into stopping murdering people
D) Charleton Heston, with a concealed weapon
Gun registration will
A) lower crime because criminals will be caught when they try to register their weapons
B) lower crime because when the police make "sweeps" through poor neighborhoods, searching everyone (or at least minorities), and those without proper registration for their guns will be arrested.
C) make it easier to confiscate those guns at a later date.
Waiting periods for gun ownership will
A) stop criminals from murdering people, because, after these criminals pass their background check, they will have to wait a certain period of time before they can get their gun.
B) stop suicides, because suicidal people stop being suicidal during a waiting period, and they will not use other methods to kill themselves, namely, slashing, drowning, hanging, overdose, gassing with car exhaust, or jumping off a bridge or building.
C) stop crimes of passion, because if I hate someone enough to kill them, I won't once the waiting period has elapsed.
D) make it harder for people who are being stalked or threatened to buy a gun for immediate protection.
"Sniper rifles" are:
A) $6,500 fifty caliber weapons, that are used so often in crime they should be banned
B) Any powerful rifle capable of holding a scope, bolt action or semi-auto, and they should be banned.
C) hard to define, as virtually any decent rifle can be called one. They have many legitimate uses.
I think that:
A) Guns are evil objects, whose only purpose is to murder people
B) Guns are tools, and in the hands of good people they are used for good, and in the hands of evil people they are used for evil.
If I point a loaded gun at someone and pull the trigger, and the person dies, it is
A) the fault of the gun manufacturer
B) the fault of the owner of the gun (if it was not my gun)
C) my fault
Guns accidentally
A) kill many, many people every year in accidents, and are a major and growing problem
B) kill less people than accidental drowning, suffocation, car accidents, medical mistakes, and almost every other cause of death big enough for statistics to be recorded (with a death rate of about .4 per 100,000, compared to vastly more for these other kinds of deaths).
Cheap, low caliber guns (Saturday Night Specials) should be
A) banned, because criminals can't afford guns that cost $50-100 more, and thus they would go without
B) banned, because poor people don't need a weapon they can afford, because the police will protect them
C) banned, because this "weapon of choice for criminals" is unable to fire a bullet once it is in the hand of an ordinary person, and thus is useless for self-defense.
D) allowed, as long as they don't blow up in your hand, or are otherwise grossly defective
Guns now are only allowed to be imported if they are decided to be adaptable for a "sporting purpose."
A) this is good, because it is morally wrong or foolish to defend yourself from attack, so self-defense is not a legitimate reason for owning a gun.
B) this a great idea, because it would ban small handguns, regardless of safety, price or quality
C) this is bad, because the law does not recognize the defensive and militia uses of guns, and allows the government to ban any gun they decide is not sufficiently "sporting."
There is a proposal to put all domestically manufactured guns under the same regulation as imported ones. This is:
A) a great idea, because it would ban small handguns, regardless of safety, price or quality
B) a bad idea, because it would give certain government officials the ability to ban any gun they deemed did not have a "sporting purpose."
"Smart guns" which are intended to stop an "unauthorized person" from firing the gun (by means of an electronic bracelet or some other device)
A) should be required by law to replace all other guns, though they do not yet exist in a marketable form, and will add $400-500 to the cost of a gun, and may potentially malfunction
B) should be required by law, because criminals won't wear a wrist bracelet to let them use their gun
C) should only exist as one option available to gun buyers
Guns that can be used by "children" should
A) be illegal, because the gun should be very complicated to use
B) be illegal, and gun should require "proof of age" before they will allow the trigger to be pulled
C) be allowed, because in order for a gun to be effective, it must be simple
Should guns should always be kept unloaded and locked up when not in immediate use?
A) yes, so they will be unusable in the event to a violent attack
B) only if they are not intended for defensive purposes. A "quick open" touch safe or similar device may be ok in many situations
Should "trigger locks" be required on all guns sold?
A) yes, since they can only be used on unloaded guns, it will encourage people to leave their guns in an inoperable state, where they will be useless in the event of an emergency
B) yes, criminals are unable to use guns that come with trigger locks
C) no, different gun owners have different storage needs which may or may not include a trigger lock
If a kid or other person steals my gun and uses it in a crime, it is
A) my fault, and I should be fined or punished for it
B) the fault of the person who committed the crime
Our government
A) would never abuse its power or strip citizens of their civil rights
B) might try to abuse its power, but the supreme court and the ACLU would stop them
C) has abused its power in the past, and stripped citizens of their rights- such as the Japanese citizens put in concentration camps, ruled constitutional by the supreme court.
If I were in a crowd, and an insane person started shooting people randomly, I would
A) hope no one in the crowd was carrying a concealed weapon, as some innocent person could be accidentally hit by his bullets
B) hope someone in the crowd was carrying a gun, so they could shoot the attacker, and we would not all be cut down like cattle.
If I had a concealed carry permit, and was carrying a gun, I would
A) blow people away in incidents of "road rage"
B) shoot people that insult me
C) kill anyone I saw trying to steal hubcaps, etc.
D) try to avoid confrontations, and use it only in life-threatening situations
I think if I had a big sign in front of my house, saying "THERE ARE NO GUNS IN THIS HOUSE!"
A) I would be safer, as criminals respect a person with non-violent beliefs
B) it would make no difference, as criminals are not deterred by the thought of being shot
C) I would be at least somewhat more likely to be targeted for a crime
Most people murdered are killed by
A) friends and loved ones
B) people they know, but don't get along with (enemies, pimps, pushers, fellow criminals, abusive and violent people in their town)
When Jesus said "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one." (Luke 22:36) He
A) obviously mean something very spiritual, complicated and metaphorical
B) meant that the disciples should have a few swords for self defense
If my neighbor commits a crime with his gun
A) all my neighbors should have their guns taken away
B) I should have my gun taken away
C) my neighbor should have his gun taken away, in addition to whatever other punishment is mandated for the crime
[This message has been edited by BTR (edited July 24, 1999).]