Caine said:
Sawed off Shotgun? Can the housewife not operate a normal shotgun without a stock? Which IS legal, since federal law restricts the length of a long barreled weapon to no shorter than 24" inches, I believe, and that is plenty small enough.
Sawed off work better in close quarters with a partially dispersed group of attackers, and they do one hell of a lot more damage to an individual at close range, increasing the likelihood of a kill. Wouldn't want the SOB invading my home to live and sue me.
Problem with the sawed off? As a law enforcement officer I don't really feel really comfortable with someone hiding a shotgun under a jacket, It makes crime a little more easy, and it makes it harder for Police Officers to know what type of threat they could be facing.
Tough. Your job as a cop is to protect the freedoms of the citizen. It is not to restrict those freedoms to make your job easier. If you don't like your job, get a broom.
Machine Guns? Can I ask why you need a machine gun to defend your home? What could you possibly do with a machine gun in your home that you couldn't do with a semi auto shotgun or a semi auto handgun? The only other reason you could possibly want a fully auto machine gun is for competition shooting or something, and yes, I believe there should be licensing restrictions for competition shooting with a fully auto weapon.
Fend off a horde of invading ATF agents attempting to enter my home on false pretenses. Oh, gee. That's happened, hasn't it? And those poor Branch Davidians had to rely on their Second Amendment freedoms to defend their First Amendment freedom of religion.
What a shock! What do you think the Second Amendment is for? It's for curbing the government. At the first pass, it means placing a limit on what the cops can get away with.
Rocket Launchers? What the hell does someone need a rocket launcher for? Are you going to fire it? Where? Where do you plan on getting ammo for it. Crap like that would EASILY get into the hands of some thugs and then cause law enforcement and the entire community a large deal of trouble.
An RPG would have been helpful in fending off the Army's tanks that were used to murder the Branch Davidians in their own home, in direct violation of posse comitatus.
Again, it's not the job of the cop to limit the freedom of the individual to make his job easier. If you don't like living in a free country, go to Cuba, or France.
Basically stated, Anyone who thinks you should be able to walk down to the corner gun shop and pick up a rocket launcher and some grenades, as well as a 249 SAW, is crazy. These things weren't even around back in the day when the 2nd amendment was made.
Typewriters weren't invented in 1789, either, but they're still covered under the First Amendment. Looking at the intent of the founders in writing the Second Amendment, and it's perfectly clear that their vision expected the citizen to have sufficient parity with currently used military arms to enable them to fend off intrusions by their own government.
The problems with crime and gangs wasn't a factor, militias were used to defend our cities and such, now we have law enforcement and an all volunteer military with several different branches, there is no reason for you to create your own little neighborhood militia.
Sure there is. First off, it's a free country, and in addition to the freedom to own and carry firearms, we have the freedom to peaceably assemble with anyone we choose to. And secondly, the cops are NEVER around when you need them. That's why the Koreans during the Los Angeles riots got on their roofs with their guns to protect their business. Mostly cops come by later to fill out the paperwork after the excitement is over.