Yes, and the difference between this crime and the dozens of murders committed on the same day in various violent urban areas around the country? The media covered it. Robert Dear was convicted of domestic abuse in 1997. Therefore, any firearm he possessed (especially an AK47) was illegally possessed.
I think you make my point that 2nd amendment is nothing about sporting use of firearms, collecting a cache of weapons for fun or CC while shopping at Walmart. As well, "Traditional State Militias in the U.S. generally did not go beyond the Civil War." So, I ask you where's your 2nd A defense???
The last time I heard of a machine gun used to commit a crime was Al Capone. Regs do work to limit access for violent crime.
I was merely trying to outline the context of the 2nd Amendment in the era of time it was passed. Giving the why/when's from a historical perspective. I will leave to others to defend the context of the 2nd Amendment in the modern era. An exercise driven primarily by legal decisions - most which have upheld the right to bear firearms in the U.S. in context of 2nd Amendment rights.
Point 3 - Dear Was Charged With Animal Cruelty & ‘Peeping Tom’ in South Carolina http://heavy.com/news/2015/11/rober...amily-motive-pro-life-conservative-age-white/ According to court records, Dear has an arrest record in both North and South Carolina. He has been convicted of several traffic offenses, but has been arrested multiple times on more serious charges. “Since March 2002, he has been leering at Ms. Roberts on a regular basis,” the report reads, citing Roberts. “Memorial day weekend last year, 2001, was the first time that the Roberts noticed Mr. Dear in the bushes by their house.” His convictions include seat belt violations, driver’s license violations, operating a vehicle in an unsafe mechanical condition and driving a non-registered vehicle. Dear was charged in 2002 in Colleton County, South Carolina, with charges of “peeping Tom”/eavesdropping. That charge was dismissed. He was living in Walterboro, South Carolina. A restraining order was also filed against Dear that year, by his neighbor. “Since March 2002, he has been leering at (his neighbor) on a regular basis,” according to a police report obtained by The Daily Beast from Dear’s “peeping Tom” arrest. “Memorial day weekend last year, 2001, was the first time that (his neighbors) noticed Mr. Dear in the bushes by their house.” According to the Charleston Post and Courier, Dear was reported to the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office in 1997, when his wife claimed he assaulted her. She told police Dear took his keys from her and locked her out of their home, according to a police report. She then tried to enter through a window, but was pushed out by Dear, who threatened her, she told police. She did not file charges against him He was charged in Colleton County in 2004 with two counts of cruelty to animals, but was found not guilty in a bench trial. A police report obtained by Buzzfeed News shows that his neighbor told police Dear shot his dog with a pellet gun. Dear denied the allegation, but he told a sheriff’s deputy that his neighbor “was lucky that it was only a pellet that hit the dog and not a bigger round.” The report states the house where police responded was “marked” with an American flag and a “rebel flag,” but does not specify if that was Dear’s home or his neighbors. Also in 2004, the same neighbor called deputies to report Dear threatened to “do bodily harm,” to him, according to the Post and Courier. Dear claimed the neighbor knocked his motorcycle to the ground.
To be clear, I'm not against gun ownership. Just for more regulation and less access to most dangerous semi-auto and there "endless" clips. The times they are achanging... I get the argument for personal protection, but who needs a 9 shot clips??
Ban AK47's they will slowly go out of existence due to new ones no longer fiscally viable to manufacture, breakage with parts scarce, don't want be caught joy riding with one in the trunk etc,,, Legal weapons (less lethal) become weapons of choice due to less scrutiny How many al capone "tommy guns" do you see in circulation today?? Point made.
There were never millions and millions of illegal machine guns already in circulation when they were phased out of legal ownership. That's the difference you just keep missing.