Colorado lawmakers want gun owners exposed to civil liability

[RiverNoord]

32. I'm sorry, but you're wrong...

about several things, most especially the issue of anyone who 'has one' (a gun) 'is automatically a monster in need of punishment.' No, there is no need for 'punishment,' for merely owning a gun, but I believe firmly that modern firearms exceed the capacity of the human animal to successfully manage the risk of physically possessing devices which are designed only for one purpose - the simple and efficient projection of small metal objects at extremely high speeds which, when they make contact with the human body, cause serious injury or death. That's a modern firearm - easy to use, with the capacity to emit multiple projectiles in rapid succession with very limited necessity to pause to load the device with additional projectiles when capacity is exhausted.

Human beings simply do not, on the whole, possess the capacity to manage the process of physically possessing such devices without profound psychological effects which result, in the aggregate, in the active use of such devices against other human beings. Most gun owners do not shoot other human beings during their lifetimes. However, that's logically similar to the exaggerated, but logically consistent statement that most countries that possess nuclear weapons have never deployed them against other human beings. They are still inherently exceptionally dangerous, and any nation that possesses them undergoes a tremendous change in perspective regarding foreign policy, yielding a tendency to engage in military activities, safe with the knowledge that they have a powerful deterrent against invasion. Modern firearms and nuclear weapons, one wielded by individuals, the other by nations. They both bring about a profound shift in the sense of power of the possessor. That shift is dangerous, and we have not evolved to the extent that we may engage in 'responsible' possession of either. If we had, not one civilian would possess a firearm to begin with, recognizing the tremendous potential for physical harm or death resulting from the mere proximity of such a device.