In a perfect world, I agree with those on the side of limiting ownership and sale of guns, and absolutely support bans on assault rifles.
The sad truth, though, is that America is awash in guns; we probably have as many weapons as people, maybe more. It is simply not realistic to talk about any significant effort to limit gun ownership. People who own them are far too intent on keeping them and any effort to seriously limit them will run aground each and every time.
As with other "absolute divide" issues (like abortion), it is difficult to see how this cultural divide can be bridged. As a rural resident it is fascinating to observe the fervor with which gun owners cherish their weapons. I travel frequently to Chicago, and it is equally fascinating to observe urban-Americans hold and espouse the opposite attitude.
(Full disclosure: I own four guns myself, three of which are collector's German Lugars I own as investments, and which have more than doubled in value in the ten to fifteen years I have owned them. I do not shoot them and to do so would lessen their value.)
We need rational policy on guns, but any policy must take into consideration the obvious fact of current ownership and accept, however reluctantly, that mass ownership of weapons in this country is not going to change. The "culture war" the screeching Right proclaims is surely a fiction, but an attempt to limit gun ownership would be one way to make it a reality.
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