I’m kinda torn on this poll:

Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they believe the Constitution guarantees each person the right to own a gun, according to a poll released Sunday.

In all, 65 percent said they thought the Constitution ensures that right, and 31 percent said it did not. The question had a sampling error of plus-or-minus 3 points.

In a way, I suppose I should be relieved that a majority felt that way. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder what responses would’ve came out if the ones who said otherwise were asked why. Or, for that matter, if anyone, regardless of response, were asked to define a militia, or even asked the “yeah, but…” types where the authority comes from to say what type of firearm one may have.

Another curiosity of the poll: the difference between rural & urban responses:

Among rural dwellers, 73 percent said they agreed, versus 64 percent or suburban and only half (50 percent) of city dwellers who thought the same.

A casual observer would say to this “yeah, duh, probably because of the increased amount of violence in big cities”. Problem is, this isn’t asking for a judgment call on the merit of the right to bear arms, merely if it is recognized as such. As bonkers as I would see it, it is quite feasible for an honest person who happened to be opposed to private firearms ownership to acknowledge that such a right is recognized anyway. Besides, by this type of logic, freedom of speech under the 1st Amendment could be reasoned away in a cloud of smoke if you just didn’t like what most people were saying.