Well said. Governments as collective consciousnesses are ultimately paranoid of "death" and tend to oppress the people they claim to serve. And that oppression always tends towards more and more violence up to torture and murder. Without a counterbalance of citizens' effective self-defense, governments always cease to serve the people that created them. That's the reason for the Second Amendment that always seems to be conveniently forgotten. Innocent people being murdered is tragic, but not tragic on the same scale as living under the boot of a totalitarian government.

I believe that's the backburner reason for the self-destructive push from those who want to remove our natural rights, including their own, to self-defense.

Closer to the front burner is what I believe a cynical effort to drive demographics into one political party's favor, so they can have a permanent political hold over the geographic districts. Both parties seem to have shifted to this polarizing strategy using different issues, not to mention being helped along by simplistic, idiotic, binary concepts being shoved on us by mass media, ie "red states" etc.

And the excuse is always "Think of the children" and an appeal to safety. Ben Franklin said it best: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."