Mr. Brown-interesting , sensible analysis. I believe we sometimes get caught up in part ideology rather than what might be good for the country as a whole. For example: The TEA party is demonized by some and all those folks really want is smaller government, less taxes, and adherence to the constitution. I would think that as Americans we would all want these same things. Who wants more taxes, more intrusive government, and a lawless government ? You are correct that we should place more emphasis on what is right with our country and offer solutions for fixing what we perceive as being wrong, and at least debate the points of disagreement. We do not now have that on this forum and it has degenerated into a platform for accusing or denigrating one another without achieving any positive results that would benefit the country. We all know that congress (Senate/House) is staffed with people who have been there for so long that they think they are self employed and therefore work to benefit themselves. I think we can all agree that term and age limits would benefit the country. The problem is that nobody wants to get rid of their guy/gal . As a result we have 80 year old people many of whom should be retired still casting v**es on items they have not read and do not understand. Why is this allowed to happen? We can do better. Good Luck America!!!

All that sounds good, but it is all rationalization to convince yourself of a lie. The lie is that all the Democrats are suggesting is reasonable restrictions.

The reality is that there is no need for reasonable restrictions, because the guns are not the problem. The violence is caused by the people not the guns. Once you get that t***h firmly planted in your understanding, you realize that what the Democrats really want is for no one to have guns other than authorities. You can deny it all you want, and you will be lying to yourself and me.

That is clearly unconstitutional, and the Democrat's gun control needs to be opposed because of that reason alone. It doesn't matter anything about all the different kinds of arms. The fact is that the Democrats do not want citizens to bear arms and we established a protection from that desire in the Bill of Rights.

I don't need an automatic weapon that can fire 200 rounds per minute to protect my property from an animal, or a burglar, but I have the right to own it if I want, and I may need it to protect myself from the military, or a foreign invader. I don't have the right to commit a crime with it, but I do have the right to own it. The crime can be punished. The right of ownership must be preserved.

If that right is not protected, the Bill of Rights is of no use.

The way to protect freedom isn't gun ownership. The way to protect freedom is vigilance, education, and making your voice heard. My .357 isn't going to do a hell of a lot against a bunch of Abrams tanks, writing my representatives in state and federal government is far more important. Education is a real problem in the past few decades. Education in math, science, and technology is where all the effort is going. As a retired history and government teacher, I am very concerned that these subjects have taken a back seat. I don't know how many times students have asked me why we even need to study history and government.

Floyd - you touch on some very interesting points. First, to answer the title question. I am here to for several reasons.

1. To learn. Sometimes on forums like this you can find someone with a perspective you haven't thought of before. 'Gotta say, that doesn't happen often on THIS site, which leads me to my second reason.

2. To practice conveying my ideas to closed minded people or people with limited comprehension sk**ls. Of course it's easier to communicate with educated people, but the problem with that is that they usually already know what I am trying to say. The real challenge is a dialog with a more "typical" folks who are already brainwashed by the simple-minded antics of their cultural influences. Many times, their responses to my posts are so far removed from any kind of reality that I can sit for minutes just trying to figure out where to even start.

3. To draft op-eds that I post on my various sites and sometimes more widely read publications. It's always a good idea to test ideas in a place where people are bound to have issues with your ideas. Again, I find other sites more useful for flushing out errors in my work, but this site is loaded with members that take an instance dislike to my ideas, so again there's that challenge - to actually get them to read it.

I wanted to comment on your point about... "Our life's have been alike in more ways that they differ."

This is a 5-star observation! I wish more people would see this. The way liberals and conservatives typically view each other for instance... You would think they're from different planets, but the reality is, they have far more in common than they think.

If I could make one simple idea be understood by members of this forum it would be that EVERYONE wants life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the #1 force that drives the denial of these things isn't the corporation, nor is it government, nor political party, nor is it gay people, black people, Muslims or socialists. The #1 threat to our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is the place money has taken as the most important thing in America. More important than people. Even more important than God, which is saying a lot for a nation with such puritan influences.

Why don't you tell me your answers to those questions and I will tell you if I agree or disagree.

You seem to be like the Democrats, always wanting the Republicans to propose a solution, and then trash the Republicans. They are not interested in the answer or solution only in a chance to trash the Republicans.

That seems like what you are baiting me for.

My answer is, don't complain or criticize unless you have a suggestion to fix the problem. If you are not willing to offer your ideas, you have nothing to offer.