In a recent post on FolkBum, bloggers were discussing the merit of including similar regulations for guns as automobiles. I think this is an interesting idea. Similarly, Folkbum provided me with the reference info for an article related to early gun restrictions in the New England colonies.

I would respond to with three points. First, additional restrictions for the possession of guns would be wonderful including: registration, background checks, ongoing checks of the guns status (similar to car's emissions testing), regular monitoring of use etc. However, I fear that those who would actually obtain guns legally and abide by these rules probably would not be the ones needing additional controls. The bigger problem is illegal gun possession by known felons or generally those with ill intent. Will we ever be able to get a handle on exactly how many weapons of this sort are out there and how to recover them? How? I don't have any brilliant ideas.

Secondly, I am not one for suppressing individual liberties or telling others what to do with their weapons- but what do you need an assault rifle, machine gun, etc for? I am not the most informed in terms of types of guns but I don't think you need a military style weapon for hunting. If it's just for self- defense, why not have a hand gun or smaller type of weapon? I could think of two reasons one may give- they like to feel powerful by having very large weapons, and they have them because they have the right. Neither of these answers seem justified. While handguns are the most common cause of murders  according to the Dept. of Justice, the rationale for other types of guns is murky. Lastly, the number of stranger murders/ attacks are a lot lower than those of intimate or known perpetrator attacks (add the bottom three categories). So who are we really protecting ourselves from? It seemed that early colonials were afraid of Indians and possibly foreigners. What are we afraid of now? I wonder what the actual likelihood of a home intruder or attacker on the street would be. Regardless of the actual likelihood, it seems that Americans continue to arm themselves more and more with both literal weapons as well as militia rhetoric and fear.