Gun control is the fallacy that making guns illegal will prevent
criminals from owning them. Since criminals are the sort of people who do not follow laws (sort of by definition) this is infrequently effective.
As far as responsibilities go it is the responsibility of the citizen to be vigilant against the rise of the tyrannical government and if need be, to counter that with
revolution. The
second amendment to the
Consititution of the United States of America is fundamentally not about
hunting, or
self-defense from criminals. It is about arming the populace against the possibility of tyrannical goverment and the dissolution of rights.
Not surprising that the British disarmed their
peasants, since in 1776 they were shown what happens when a tyrannical government has an armed populace.
As far as having no further shootings in schools,
Israel had a similar problem with the
PLO shooting up their schools. When they armed their teachers and school officials, these incidents stopped.
Criminals prefer unarmed victims (even and especially the criminals in the goverment) and when there is likely to be
armed resistance, criminals at least think harder on their impending actions.
Admit to my fascination with guns? Ok. I love guns. I love the feel of the well machined metal in my hands. I love the scent of burnt powder and gun oil. The sight of the flawless machinery working in perfect synchronicity, all the levers and slides and springs. Gun control is still wrong, and has nothing to do with my love for tools. And honestly, if there was a non-lethal means of self defence which was just as effective as a handgun, I would carry that instaed of my pistol. I would not dispose of my firearms, because they would still be useful for the reasons discussed before.
As far as the notion that the military has equipment that ordinary citizens will never be allowed to own, while true, this situation is unconstitutional. The founding fathers intended for citizens to own every piece of military hardware that a single man can operate, so that he could defend his country in time of need. This includes machine guns, "assault rifles", semiautomatic shotguns, revolvers and grenades. "Who is the militia? Is it not us? The sword, and every other terrible implement of the soldier is the birthright of an American."
Yes. I have had someone tell me they were going to kill me. I had left a scratch on his car with mine, and upon exiting the vehicle to do the usual exchange of information, he leapt from his vehicle, brandishing a weighted steel police baton above his head, stating "I'm going to fucking kill you." and advancing on my position. I disabused him of this notion by drawing my Beretta 92fs 9mm pistol and pointing it at him. I have no doubt whatsoever that if I had not been armed, that I would be dead. As it was, neither of us was hurt. This man was a member of the
SCA, and a trained heavy weapons fighter. He was good enough to have come very close to having been crowned King of the local Kingdom. What this means in practice is that he was highly trained in the use of sticks for the purpose of hitting people. I, on the other hand, am not, so even had I been similarly armed with a stick, I'd still be dead.