Quote:...The automobile model of gun ownership

Advocates of increased gun restrictions have promoted the automobile model of gun ownership, however, the analogy is selectively and incompletely applied. It is routinely overlooked that no license or registration is needed to “own and operate” any kind of automobile on private property. No proof of “need” is required for automobile registration or drivers’ licensure. Once licensed and registered, automobiles may be driven on any public road and every state’s licenses are given “full faith and credit” by other states. There are no waiting periods, background checks, or age restrictions for the purchase of automobiles. It is only their use and misuse that is regulated.

Although the toll of motor vehicle tragedies is many times that of guns, no “arsenal permit” equivalent is asked of automobile collectors or motorcycle racing enthusiasts. Neither has anyone suggested that automobile manufacturers be sued when automobiles are misused by criminals, as they frequently are, by drunk and reckless drivers, in drive-by shootings, bank robberies, car bombs, and all manner of crime and terrorism. No one has suggested banning motor vehicles because they “might” be used illegally or are capable of exceeding the 55 mph speed limit, even though we “know” speed kills. Who needs a car capable of three times the national speed limit? “But cars have good uses” is the usual response. So too do guns have good uses, the protection of 2.5-million good Americans every year. (Kleck G and Gertz M. Armed resistance to crime: the prevalence and nature of self-defense with a gun. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology. Summer 1995: 86. forthcoming)

Importantly, the proponents of the automobile model of gun ownership fail to note that controls appropriate to a privilege (driving) are inappropriate to a constitutional right (gun ownership and use)....