Quote Originally Posted by Stan View Post
As I said, I'm an NRA life member and have a nice collection of practical firearms in addition to having had concealed permits. What I don't take stock in is the empty and ludicrous use of "Second Amendment" to support or destroy an argument that is far more complex.

Because most of us herein are military and/or law enforcement, and the subject has more to do with what happens on a military base, I take our opinions and concerns much more seriously. Much more per se than someone arguing for or against gun ownership, standing on the Second Amendment soap box, in a heated political debate without ever having fired a weapon
I, too, am a combat veteran, lifelong shooter, own and carry guns and I am an NRA member as well.

So what?

Chuck Schumer and Diane Feinstein own guns and have permits to carry concealed…’nuff said.

The way you simply dismiss the 2A/RKBA argument is far more telling when it comes to your credibility regarding the issue of gun ownership; whether on post or elsewhere. Furthermore, being military or law enforcement doesn’t make any of us all that special…where I live you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting someone who is either current or prior military/LE. It doesn’t make me (or you) any more or less qualified to comment on this thread.

Back to original point of this thread…

The two points I made in my earlier post were that I was frustrated with the notion that we can’t trust soldiers to handle weapons safely and with the surprising number of military and LE personnel (albeit a minority) who are opposed to the idea of the right to own and carry guns as an individual right but rather as something that should only belong to a protected class of citizens of which they are always a part.

I also notice a certain inconsistency in the argument that on the one hand “we (military/LE) are special” while on the other hand “stupid privates” can’t be trusted not to shoot themselves or others in a drunken orgy of destruction in the barracks on any given day; as if “stupid privates” are even LESS qualified to own and carry firearms than their civilian counterparts. Which one is it?

Finally, I am very uncomfortable with this tendency to lump military and law enforcement personnel together. We are very, very different. The fact that many in LE are former military does not change this.