Not making an effort to explore this complex issue, just sharing a comment I left on another blog. The author wrote cogently about gun control. A reader responded in a combative tone, complaining about the knee-jerk reaction of some to tighten gun control laws in the wake of a mass shooting.
http://pokergrump.blogspot.com/2011/01/just-little-ranting-about-gun-control.html
[My comment. I respond to the anonymous post on Jan. 12 7:02 PM]
"You people don't like guns.....fine don't have a gun. It is your right to own one or not. Do not tell us that we don't have the right."
Why the combative tone? Some of us have a different opinion about what armaments should be permitted and what should be restricted. Handgun to nuclear bomb... draw the line somewhere to balance the competing interests of national security and individual liberty. We the People will always discuss these laws and rights, as it's all negotiable. Yes, our Constitution explicitly lists the rights of the People. But it also details a process by which the People can amend those rights.
Please don't confuse a discussion over whether today's laws and rights are appropriate for today's problems with "tell[ing] us that we don't have the right." Everything is negotiable and the Constitution lays out a framework for lawfully making changes through the democratic, legislative process.
[Update Jan 13: My comment was deleted. Coward. I guess the far right prefers bombast over rational discourse.]