Yahoo.com: Mayor Daley lays out strict gun rules for Chicago

[rincewind]

No, you've missed HH's point. Between the government fearing the people, and the people fearing the government, which would the Founding Father's have preferred?

People fearing the government.

<snip conspiracy theory>

Forget left/right. How about basic English comprehension? Say.... about a right of the people that shall not be infringed? Even counting practicalities for the public good, like not yelling "fire" in a crowded theater or not allowing carried weapons into banks, why shouldn't the 2nd amendment be as highly valued and protected as the 1st?

Yeah, the difference is speech hasn't really changed. On the other hand, we have automatic weapons and a severe lack of a monarchical former ruler breathing down our neck. Like I said - don't think you can get farther left than me on the whole 2nd Amendment debate. You should also probably know (or, at least realize, by this point), I have NO problem altering the Constitution. Christ, the thing is over 200 years old - and, obviously, wasn't perfect when it was written.

[HailGreen28]

People fearing the government.

Well, politicians do tend to want then government to have more power, when they themselves are in office. Even Jefferson, LOL.

But to ignore what the Founding Fathers wrote in figuring out what they thought. And ignoring the actual state of affairs in the US while they were alive. Where if the Federal government wanted a large army they had to recruit militia, States printed their one money, no IRS/FBI/BATF/etc., the people were actually armed as well as the army, hell the States being sovereign enitities with the right to secede until about 1865...

It's pretty obvious that while the Founding Fathers feared "mob rule", they feared an authoritative federal government even more. Even Washington and Adams.

Yeah, the difference is speech hasn't really changed. On the other hand, we have automatic weapons and a severe lack of a monarchical former ruler breathing down our neck. Like I said - don't think you can get farther left than me on the whole 2nd Amendment debate. You should also probably know (or, at least realize, by this point), I have NO problem altering the Constitution. Christ, the thing is over 200 years old - and, obviously, wasn't perfect when it was written.

Yeah, hard to overlook what's written in plain English. And "automatic weapons" are nothing. You could classify a lot of common shotguns as semi-auto, LOL. Look around and you'll find plenty of tyranny on the local level, like "eminent domain" and Meigs Field. With the increase in bureaucracies,

I like the process of Amendments being hard to make but possible. I personally think we need a balanced budget amendment ASAP. But after 200 years, I think it should require massive political support to make a change into law.