wc145, first, thank you for taking the time to take part in the forum, in front of a bunch of people, many of whom will start off being very hostile. Take heart, you are following in the footsteps of a long line of patriots who came before you.
Lots of good ideas so far.
Some one will float the argument that the Second Amendment states a collective right, a right of the states to have or to regulate militia. This is easily refuted. The Supreme Court has decided it is an INDIVIDUAL right, the same as the rights covered in the First, Third, and Fourth Amendments. Most people will not read the Supreme Court decisions, so just refer them to the Constitution. Clauses 15 and 16 of section 8 of Article I give the Congress the power to call forth the militia for federal purposes; and to provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and to govern such part of the militia as called to federal service, "reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress." Article II, section 2 (1) provides that the President is the Commander in Chief of militia called to federal service. The Second Amendment does not change or limit the power given to the Congress or diminish the authority of the President. It does recognize a right OF THE PEOPLE that is not to be infringed.
I am in New York State. We have a Governor who does not trust the law abiding citizens of New York State with respect to firearms. Why does he think we trust him.
I have studied gun control laws since the federal gun control act of 1968. They do not seem to have much impact on gun crime, and primarily seem intended to make it more difficult and expensive for law-abiding citizens to own guns. Why would the political class want to do that? Because all through time the political class has sought to disarm the people.
Gun control is not about safety. In 2011 5 people were murdered with rifles in New York State, and no one knows if ANY of the rifles used were semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines. Yet Governor Cuomo is making an estimated hundreds of thousands of owners of such rifles jump through all sorts of hoops, with no showing that doing so will make any one safer. Holders of pistol permits in New York State exceedingly rarely are involved in any kind of crime, much less a gun crime, and historically those permits could be revoked by ant judge at any time for any reason. Governor Cuomo has changed what was a lifetime pistol permit to one that must be renewed every five years, again with no factual basis or even an argument that will make people safer from pistol permit owners who rarely commit crimes.
The Founding Fathers rebelled against a king, the British Sovereign. They instituted a new form of government that was premised on the people being the source of sovereignty, and they spread out powers between the state and federal government and within each level of government, setting up checks and balance between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. All of which was premised upon an armed populace that could do what was discussed in the Declaration of Independence, that is, to secure the unalienable rights including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness; "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it,..."
It is not about saving lives. If it was flu shots would be mandated for everyone because the flu kills 7 or 8 time as many people per year as are murdered with guns. There are many other causes of death that kill far more people than are killed intentionally or accidentally with firearms. Compare the number of children who drown in backyard swimming pools to those killed in firearms accidents, for example. Don't forget about drunk driving, which is a criminal use of a motor vehicle and kills more people each year than are murdered with guns.
Speaking of cars, why no regulate guns like cars. Well, regulation of cars, airline industry, food safety standards and other similar things can be shown to actually improve safety, but gun control can not. The reason is that the vast, overwhelmingly majority of crimes with guns are committed by people with lengthy and extensive criminal records who do not follow the rules.
Good luck, wc145, an American Patriot.