interesting thread, in spite of the tired rightie-troll talking points lead-in... illustrates the point that painting the opposing viewpoints with extreme ideological brushes only lowers the quality of the debate.
take off the con/lib-colored glasses and this stuff becomes common sense. as with capital punishment, there are certainly circumstances where personal gun ownership is reasonable. hunting, target shooting, personal protection - these are fine reasons to own a gun. but since guns are a tool designed to destroy whatever they are used upon, common sense would dictate there should be limitations on thier possession, for the well-being of the community in which they are possessed. so background checks and limits on how much firepower an individual can possess are also reasonable... because i don't think my alcoholic neighbor with the rage problem and a history of domestic violence has any consitutional right to own a stash of crowd-killing weapons.
that being said, i've lived in several urban war zones in the US, but i've never felt the need to own a gun. i also spent a lot of time in rural right-wing Idaho and always had the impression that serious gun nuts were largely insecure guys who, apparently in lieu of any substantial genitalia, carried guns to make themselves feel more like men.
