Reply #14: We could draw the line at stuff covered by international arms limitation treaties

[Euromutt]

Materiel like combat aircraft, naval vessels, tanks, artillery, missiles and NBC weapons are covered by such treaties (SALT, CFE, CWC, and the like). Small arms for the most part (barring items like anti-personnel mines) are not.

The Constitution states that international treaties (if ratified by Congress) shall form "the supreme law of the land" together with the Constitution itself, so there are strong grounds to accept that imposing such limitations on the people as also bind the government is acceptable. Moreover, having large weapon systems in private ownership could give governments a loophole to evade arms limitations treaties ("Three aircraft carriers over the number permitted by the treaty, you say? Oh no, those are privately owned.").