"I don't see whats barbaric about defending myself or my loved ones from an armed assailant. "
You are an idiot.
"I previously thought guns should be legal. I do suffer from general paranoia and am especially distrustful of the government."
And so are you.
Bubba, I'm going to get on your back first, because you are cutting and pasting your arguments from elsewhere and have no idea what you are talking about.
" `In the Militia Act of 1792, the second Congress defined `militia of the United States' to include almost every free adult male in the United States. These persons were obligated by law to possess a (military-style) firearm and a minimum supply of ammunition and military equipment. . . . "
Sound familiar? It sould, considering it comes from
http://web4.integraonline.com/~bbroa..._Rebuttal.html
Now lets take a look at that. In the real Militia Act of 1792, passed May 8, 1792, they deem the militia is NOT open to everyone. It was Kennedy who made the term all inclusive, it was written originally in sentence two of part 1 "(t)hat each and every free able-bodied
white male citizen of the respective States" was to be included. Little different isn't it?
Nor does it say ANYWHERE military grade equipment. Point of fact, it says "a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch, with a box therein, to contain not less than twenty four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of power and ball."
Go grab your black powder rifle Bubbe, and retreat back to General Blabber. I'm afraid this topic has become your Little Big Horn.
As for you Doopa, if you don't trust the Fed Gov, you should be supporting your local chapter of the NRA, because our Second Ammendment right was written by Madison, and inspired by Jefferson, for the sole reason of supplying the citizens of this country the means by which to impliment the most final check and balance of power- The right to revolution, that any corrupt incarnation of the US might be overthrown with extreme prejudice.