I've been around the world and gun rights to the extent that the U.S. has them are unique to the U.S., as part of its cultural basis for being. There are many countries that would fall apart if suddenly they were introduced to free gun access, so I don't agree with the notion that gun rights should be a global thing. Not everyone shares American values or necessities. In countries where social and economic inequities are properly and effectively addressed, the need for guns for self-defense drops dramatically. In such societies, guns have become redundant for protection and are mostly a recreational tool, for hunting and sports. Violent people exist everywhere, but widespread violence and regular massacres are a sign of a violent society that has fallen ill. Granting more guns or removing more guns is not going to cure the underlying illness. People don't just go on violent killings for no reason, they are nurtured into doing so.
We are past the point of development as a nation where high powered weaponry could ever stop the State from turning tyrannical. This isn't the 18th century with muskets and cannons. Our government has weapons, some of them classified, that are beyond our defense; and our government's greatest asset is that it has become an expert at psychologically manipulating its own people into doing its bidding. Even if 10% of the military remained loyal to the government in a civil conflict, the public would still be doomed.
Our civil rights have already been infringed upon to levels that previous generations would never have tolerated, through secret measures and "terrorism" bills. Our rights have been declining for decades and nobody is willing to really fight for them with the rights that the 2nd Amendment has afforded them. There is a stark difference between the era of the civil rights movements, and where we are now. It's like night and day. We have grown lazy and complacent as a nation. If the government came for us tomorrow, those among us with guns would surely resist, but the U.S. government is the most powerful on Earth and it would swiftly take control. It has a known history of experimenting on the People and showing utter disregard for our well being, in cold and calculated ways. The 2nd Amendment is no longer relevant to preventing tyranny. We already have a tyrannical government. All the talk about freedom and greatness is just lip service at this point. If you spend a length of time overseas in different countries and then come back to the U.S., it's obvious how controlled we are, in insidious ways that try to convince us we're still free and the greatest nation on Earth. The fight against tyranny is already over. We lost.
So, putting aside the redundancy of having a well armed militia, that leaves personal access to self-protection. People with known psychopathy and a history of criminal violence should not have access to fire arms, let alone assault rifles to mow down crowds of people. It's easy to talk political philosophy on a computer but if your family member was mowed down by someone who bought their assault rifle at the corner store, you'd question this too. I support everyone having firearms for protection of themselves, loved ones, and property. I support background checks for automatic and semi-automatic weapons because they are the most efficient killing machines of the innocent. Because our society is ill we can't look at them the same way that we used to.
There has to be a middle ground. We can still have a 2nd Amendment while doing whatever we can to try and prevent our most degenerate citizens from killing people en mass. As I said earlier, the violence is a symptom of a much bigger problem, but there's treating the branch and then there's treating the root. The root, in my opinion, is beyond help. Our country is in a downward spiral that we won't recover from, one that will require some kind of reconfiguration of our society that we are not capable of voluntarily doing right now. All we can do for now is address the branch, which is to prevent known degenerates from acquiring weapons. It will never be foolproof, but we have to try.
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