There is one thing that gets people more worked up and divided than religion and that's the 2nd amendment to the constitution. You will hear gun enthusiasts claim it's a blanket right for them to own whatever they want and to "protect them from our government" and others will remind you about the "well regulated militia" part that is often left out especially by the NRA. Let me start by saying I grew up in a home with lots of guns, I was born and raised in the part of Pennsylvania where people do cling to their guns and bibles. We had a couple handguns and many rifles that my father and brother would use for hunting (myself I didn't like the taste of deer so never shot one).
In 2008 for the first time in Americas history the Supreme Court ruled the 2nd amendment was an individual right to own guns, there were many federal court rulings before Heller but it was the first to quote the 2nd as a right while striking down gun regulations. Since then the NRA and gun lovers have used this to push their agenda and fight any sensible gun regulations, it shouldn't be a surprise because the NRA has been spending millions of dollars buying and scaring politicians for over 20 years and using that power to weaken the ATF.
You can look in any newspaper or online add here in PA and buy a gun with no questions asked, no background check etc. If John Doe sells a gun to a terrorist and that person goes on to kill 100 people with it they can do nothing to John Doe but if Mr. Doe is a bartender who serves someone 10 drinks and that person goes off and kills someone than Mr. Doe will be arrested and charged with a crime. An average of 20,000 guns go missing from licensed gun dealers every year and with the ATF neutered and their laws weakened they often can't do anything about it.
You will often hear gun lovers use some version of the quote "government should fear the people not people the government" and often attribute it to Thomas Jefferson but there is no record of him ever using that quote and in fact the quote is
"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
And it wasn't quoted until around 1914
In fact when Jefferson started writing the Va. constitution he included "No freeman should be debarred the use of arms" as so many gun lovers will tell you in defending their right to own and carry a gun. They leave out the second part which was "Within his own land or tenements". Because like "well regulated militia" it hurts their argument.
Actually the militias weren't set up to keep the government in check but set up to "execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrection, repel invasions" the founding fathers feared standing armies and when many founders wanted such an army this was the compromise. The militias were set up to protect the government from the people not the other way around. The irony is that most people who use the founding fathers in their argument to keep and bear arms also support a strong military and excessive military spending while the founders were against a standing army.
We have long regulated freedom of speech and a lot of the same people who hold the Heller court decision sacred have fought for over 30 years to restrict, regulate and overturn the same courts decision on abortion and recently on "Obamacare". Every judge is an "activist" judge if you don't agree with their decision. The fact is court rulings before Heller allowed for gun regulations some even stating the "militia" part of the 2nd amendment but those 200 years of history are ignored.
There has been a long history of gun regulations
1865 - Several southern states barred African Americans from gun ownership
1927 - Congress makes it illegal to mail guns
1934 - Automatic firearms are banned
1938 - the first gun registries are created and a license is required to sell guns
I would say today's NRA an gun enthusiasts want to take us back to the Wild West but even then guns were often not allowed in city limits and carrying them would get you arrested.
There is a history before the 2008 Heller ruling and when the SCOTUS swings back into "liberal" control there will be more rulings. Seeing scenes like peole carrying guns at presidential rallies, armed standoffs like the Bundy ranch etc. make me fear that day. The right to own a gun doesn't give you the right to forget your other obligations as American citizens, I am fine with gun ownership and even fine with people getting gun carry permits if they are open and feel that they can't leave the house for legit fear of their life but also have no problems with common sense regulations like background checks for ever gun sale, banning people on the terror watch list from owning guns (thanks to the NRA they are allowed to currently) and limiting the size of magazines. I also think concealed carry should be outlawed, if you feel the need to carry gun in public I should have a right to know you are in possession of it for my safety so I know to avoid you.
There is no point arguing with gun obsessed people just like arguing with anti-gun people. You will not change their minds and it often escalates to name calling, threats and usually ends with the pro gun people bringing up Hitler or the Nazis. If you are anti-gun your best bet is to keep voting for democrats and hope the SCOTUS power swings back in your favor.