Originally Posted by Joe Obenberger

It's the question itself that's flawed.

It asks why we "need" to posses these guns.

That's just like asking us to prove that we have a "need" to vote, to speak freely, to have the privacy in our homes respected, to practice our own religion.

It's not a "Bill of Needs". It's a Bill of Rights.

If you don't think much of our right to have firearms, take it up with the Founding Fathers. The American Revolution began on the day when the British Army attempted a gun-grab at Lexington-Concord. That was enough of a threat to their freedom to mean war. And the weapons in question were not just sporting arms, but the military style assault rifles of the age. The concept behind the Second Amendment is broad enough to include self-defense, but it's really grounded on the idea that one of the best ways to keep government tyranny at bay is a well-armed citizenry, capable of revolt, that will keep the lawgivers on their toes.

If you don't like that, those Founding Fathers had enough foresight to imagine that changing conditions might require adjustments from time to time and they accommodated that, too. If you can convince 2/3 of both houses of Congress and 3/4 of the states, you can change the Bill of Rights and repeal the Second Amendment. Don't count on that happening any time soon. But hey, go knock yourself out trying. Don't be surprised if others grab your coat tails and try to repeal the First Amendment and the Fifth, Sixth and the Fourtheenth, claiming that all of them only protect criminals. (In fact they protect citizens, every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and when the rights of criminal suspects are taken away, the rights of every citizen go with them.)

Until you manage to amend the Constitution, we don't have to prove any need to vote, to speak freely, to worship God, to buy and sell porn - or to own, carry, and use an AR-15.

PS - Anyone looking to sell one in nice condition?