<p>“I’m guessing guns that you don’t own or have any interest in”</p>
<p>Nope, Icarus, not at all. There are guns that I own or have an interest in which, in reality, have no proper place outside of military forces or law enforcement. Within the context of civilian society, the purpose of a gun is either hunting, sport shooting or personal defense. There is no reason for a civilian to own a weapon that was designed for military combat. Contrary to what some supporters of the 2nd amendment suggest, we no longer live in colonial times where the militia was a home based organization whose members were on call and therefore kept their weapons at home. We have professional police forces and military services that perform the roles that a militia did in colonial times. Personal defense means “in your home” or direct face to face contact on the street with an armed criminal: it doesn’t mean pulling your assault rifle out of the trunk of your car to deal with a crew of bank robbers, terrorists or lunatics armed with automatic weapons. Once upon a time, I thought a “Street Sweeper” shotgun and the Galil assault rifle (original .308 variant) were just wonderful. Does anyone in their right mind, however, seriously think these are weapons that should be available to the civilian public? Or that it is appropriate to carry them in public? There is no legitimate civilian use for such weapons. Period. Of course, if one thinks they are just cool toys to play with, then you probably also think there is nothing wrong with wearing your Desert Eagle on your hip at your kid’s soccer game.</p>