Firearm owner here. Guess this is as good a place as any to talk about this. I used to be a big fan of a guns/firearms subreddit that had a pretty "loose" feel to it that made it feel a lot less like the other subs around here discussing firearms.
I made the mistake once of suggesting that, especially as responsible gun owners, we all knew someone or had come across people who we went "That fucking guy shouldn't have a gun," thanks to their stupidity.
One of the mods, someone I respected, really went to task on me suggesting that it wasn't my, or anyone's, place to say who shouldn't have guns no matter what, that it was their right regardless of mental capacity or behavior.
I don't go to that sub any longer.
The problem I have as a gun owner (and I'm no "Fudd", the enthusiast term for someone who only owns a hunting rifle and maybe a handgun and considers themselves a big "gun guy"... I build AR-15s for fun) is that when firearms safety and regulation becomes a conversation between people who know nothing about guns because they find them "scary", you can't be a brick wall that just shouts "SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED" at the top of your lungs.
Gun crime is a problem in this country, and I'm not just talking mass shootings. Somewhere around 90% of all gun homicides are committed with handguns, yet we only discuss supposedly meaningful reform around "scary" weapons like the AR-15.
I get why, but for every Aurora or Sandy Hook, there's stuff like something that happened in my area recently where two men in their 50s had some form of dispute, one went to where the other worked, shot him in the head, and then attempted suicide.
Like, could that happen with a knife? Sure. Did it? No.
For there to be meaningful reform around firearms law, gun owners and enthusiasts need to get involved, be reasonable, and try and find some common ground. We have to educate, not "normalize", on gun ownership.
I say this because it will stop nonsense bans on stuff like pistol grips and bayonet lugs, and maybe legalize stuff we (gun owners) want legal like suppressors which are illegal mostly because people think that it's for hitmen, not hunters. [A silenced AR-15 is exactly what I'd like to take wild hog hunting, for example, but it's cost prohibitive]
Anyways, back to that tense conversation I had, the question was "Do you trust the government to decide who should and shouldn't have guns?" and my answer was No, I don't. I do trust the American People to come to a decision on that, however in order for it to mean something, we actually have to have a discussion, and that means gun owners and those who want to outright ban them all like Senator Feinstein need to come to the table willing to discuss the issue rationally...
... which will never happen.