In the United States, we have a constitutionally protected right to bear arms. With that right comes the responsibility of the government to regulate the size, type and power of these arms, as well as the qualifications, mental stability and competence of those who would own them.
When the constitution was written, the "arms" that were owned by the common people were flintlocks that were crude, slow and inaccurate by today's standards. It therefore follows that reasonable limits should be placed on the manufacture and ownership of high-powered, multi-round guns and other armaments designed for military usage.
Guns don't kill people, people do. Therefore we also have the responsibility to bare arms. Those of us who are unarmed have as much right to know who is "packing heat" as anyone does to carry a weapon. While criminals will always carry concealed weapons, as more and more people purchase guns I want to know who is "loaded for bear" so that I might avoid a potentially life-threatening situation. Most murders are crimes of passion, and I do not want to be found on the passionate end of a bullet.
The Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms and it grants society the responsibility to have a "well regulated militia" of gun owners.
Rick Hawksley
Kent