I do agree with this entirely. I also believe that great prudence is necessary in order to not dismantle the second amendment in our attempt to do better.
I've always told my sons that it is not really a question of political party when it comes to politics, but more a question of an ideology. Namely whether liberal or conservative.
Presented with a seemingly good idea, a liberal tends to accept it at face value and run with it, where as a conservative tends to scrutinize it before accepting it, asking where it may lead us, and weighs the consequences of running with it. This is obviously oversimplified, but it is not necessarily wrong.
I can't unequivocally say you're wrong, but I don't think you're right on this either.
Conservatives do not like change.. that's what makes them conservative! They resist change even in the face of overwhelming evidence. Most conservatives (READ: Republican and Religious), do not like changing the status quo as it would seem that there is safety and security in familiarity.
In a world dominated by change and evolution (read: psychological and technological evolution), conservatives refuse to learn and adapt. Heck, there's even a book they follow that tells them what and how they should think and they wave that book in the air during arguments. I think that most conservative policies are misguided and just absolutely wrong.. But they do get one very big thing correct.. and its a big one.. They like to execute the trash of society and they believe in the right to personal protection. (I'm going to leave the conservatives foreign policies and war mongering out for another conversation)
Liberals on the other hand tend to accept change a bit too fast and sometimes (frequently?) even jump the gun (no pun intended!
) to embrace something new. The problem with the stereotypical liberal is that they too sometimes lack the scientific knowledge to make a good decision, and then, without the required knowledge, and without a book to follow and wave in the air, they too can go off in the wrong direction.
Considering the above opinion, I think that anyone who polarizes themselves to one side or the other is one of our fundamental problems.
Science is everything.. in fact, its pretty much the only thing.. and the science says that in area's of the country where people are allowed to defend themselves with guns, the crime rate tends to decrease. And this follows common sense.. In the wild (nature), predators don't prey on the healthy and strong adult population.. they go after the sick, the old, and the weak. Criminals are no different.
I think that people who stick to the 2nd amendment as their argument for individual level gun control are doing themselves, and society a disfavor. If the science showed that CCW permits caused an increase in crime, rather than a decrease in crime, I would be against allowing almost anyone to carry a weapon in public. But the fact is, the all important science says the opposite.. Honest and hard working citizens who are armed tend to reduce the crime rate.
If the liberal democrats could just learn to change with the science on this issue, we'd all be better for it.
Without question the writers of our constitution fell into the latter category, and wrote it with great prudence. Not all of the attempts to run with good ideas since regarding it, have proved to actually be good ideas.
I don't believe that changing and placing more restrictions or limitations on their original writing is a good idea in any way. Certainly not in the form of allowing an individual or group to govern whether or not someone is worthy of enjoying the rights granted by what they wrote, based on how they jump through a hoop... such as writing an essay or their ability to do so.
The problem with our constitution is that it was written at a time when folks had no clue as to the technological advances that would change our world. Even some things that were fundamental truths back then have been rendered irrelevant, ineffective, or even downright counterproductive. Our supreme court is tasked with sorting it all out but as times change, even that is slowly becoming a problem.
Our constitution, like an old building, needs to be renovated. Some things need to stay, some need to change, some need to be added, and some need to be done away with. Failure of our society to accomplish this will probably lead to our downfall. As nature always demonstrates at every level, you either adapt or you go extinct.
Strictly enforced gun control is a very good thing.. But telling the average hard working and responsible person that their right to self protection is going to be limited is a very bad thing.
Technology may one day fix this, but I'm not so sure social policy ever will.
Or are you sharpening your pencil to write that essay? Or in my state of Michigan, we used to have to dress up and appear in front of an interrogation board to state our case..