2A is written in a very broad sense. When the Constitution was written, it had simple times in mind meaning a person that lived on a farm had the right to protect his family, chickens horses and goats. The authors of the that document didnt account for some idiot with an axe to grind taking shots at people in traffic because someone changed lanes without using a turn signal or some person looking for attention shooting up an elementary school. Not everyone is mature enough emotionally stable enough to responsibly bear arms if we truly honest with ourselves. Just like having a driver's license, being able to lawfully carry a weapon is a privilege. The bar is set pretty low to enjoy that privilege/right but there should be a bar of some sort.
With all due respect this is the kind of thinking that scares me to death. It's also the kind of thinking that gives liberals/anti 2nd amendment folks the boldness to do everything in their power to limit my/your 2nd amendment rights.
Nowhere in the 2nd does it say anything about a person protecting his chickens, horses and goats. Neither did it say anything about some idiot with an axe to grind or some mental case shooting up elementary schools. What it did say was the RIGHT of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms "SHALL" not be infringed. The founders knew there would be instances of which you speak, but the RIGHT of the people was far more important! Our constitution GUARANTEES our freedom, not our safety.
The only correct statement you've made was ..... "Not everyone is mature enough emotionally stable enough to responsibly bear arms if we truly honest with ourselves." Of course not everyone is not fit to exercise 2nd amendment rights, but that in NO WAY should be used as an excuse to limit and/or infringe on that right to others. Do we limit the 1st just because some idiot smears feces on a statuette of the virgin Mary? Of course we don't.
The answer is to take those others, whether violent criminals, crazies, or druggies out of our civilized society permanently, just like was done when the founders wrote the B of R's and the constitution. Jails, prisons, mental institutions, drug rehabs, etc. Slapping these offenders on the hand and turning them back onto society, otherwise called 'mainstreaming' them is in itself insane and should be a criminal offense.
And then this ....... "Just like having a driver's license, being able to lawfully carry a weapon is a privilege." Lawfully carrying a gun/weapon is in NO WAY just like a driver's license, or even a little bit like a driver's license. It's a guaranteed RIGHT where driving is a PRIVILEGE. Let me share with you how to determine a right ..........
There is a simple rule for deciding whether something is a right.
That is, if another human must provide it for you, then it is not a right. Based on that simple rule, the following are not rights — food, housing, education, medicine, medical care, medical insurance, cell phones, Internet, transportation.
By the same rule, here are some true rights — speaking, writing, worshiping, living, deciding how to utilize personal assets that have been lawfully earned through your own ingenuity or labor. (living would address self defense)
The founders wrote about true rights and that “governments are instituted among men to secure these rights.”
We have police departments to secure those rights from other individuals. We have a defense department to secure those rights from other countries. We have a Constitution to secure those rights from our own government.
Now everything I've written above in no way is to be fussing at you, only offering another point of view. A POV that has maintained this county's standing among all other countries of the world as the best, the most noble, the most giving, and without question the most FREE country on the earth.
And if I wasn't clear enough above let me offer this ...... I in no way approve of a society where we condone, coddle, and/or make excuses for those you and I both agree should not be allowed to 'keep and bear arms'. But those are the folks who have shown they're not worthy and have themselves forfeited their right to keep and bear. I've already said those should be taken out of a civilized society, and not returned, and if violent offenders, should never have their 2nd amendment rights returned.
All others, those of us who strive to live right and do the right thing, should take responsibility for themselves and their actions and get the proper training without being forced or mandated or having limits set. Once limits, or force, or a mandate is introduced, it's no longer a RIGHT because someone else is allowing it, regulating it, or providing it. What do you know ...... that's the very first sentence in the definition of a RIGHT above.
Hope you take this in the way it was intended, as another POV. Not as an argument.