Post

Othelos wrote:

Growing up in NY hasn't lent me much insight into that, either. But it strikes me as a mutated form of classical liberalism (like most american conservatism) - whereby the state has no business regulating what you do/purchase/etc.

My political knowledge is certainly limited - I never had the time or the energy to like fully get into researching things, but I often consider myself to be a liberal. And living in a state that was a dictatorship before I was born, living with the stories of my parents and grandparents, and now finally getting the right to vote in a point where the ruling party starts to become increasingly authoritarian - I do tend to be pretty inherently hostile to the idea of a state trying to regulate things that it shouldn't.

But we're talking about weapons here. Things which can be used to kill other human beings very effectively. The state not only should have business with regulating it, it should be the state's duty. The state has to protect its citizens from harm.