District of Columbia v. Heller

I know that Americans have several differing beliefs, feelings, and understandings of the 2nd Amendment. I think this case is a perfect example of how different people interpret the constitution in totally different ways. I feel very strongly that the Right to Bear Arms is just as important as other rights given to U.S. citizens. I also know people that feel that guns should be taken out of this country and only police officers and the military should have them. As much as I would love to live in a world like that it is too unrealistic. The problem being that no matter what criminals are going to have guns because criminals don't obey the laws. Therefore, shouldn't law abiding citizens have a way of protecting themselves against these criminals? Moreover, what is the point in having a weapon that you have to keep unloaded and in a locked case - that isn't going to help the person getting robbed ("hold on while unlock my gun case and load my gun?)! In-home robberies are much higher in Illinois than in Texas - mostly because a person is less likely to pull a gun out on someone if they think that person can be, and probably is armed. I'm not saying that everyone should carry around a loaded weapon, but with the proper training and licensing people should be able to have that right. I do think that there are several problems with gun access in this country (I think we've all seen that in the past couple of years with NIU and Virginia Tech). I think the laws for buying a gun need to be a lot stricter and training classes should be mandatory. Someone should not be able to walk into a gun store and own a gun within 24-48 hours or even a week for that matter. I know people that own guns and are extremely careful, safe, and cautious when using them, so I realize that I may not have the best perspective to judge the entire situation. Nevertheless, I think that if some of these steps were implemented then it would keep a lot more people from getting licensed. And like I said, criminals will find a way to get weapons no matter what, so I don't think a full out ban is what is best for the law abiding citizens.