Until and unless the United States Supreme Court changes its ruling on the Second Amendment, there is no hope that the situation will change. And they have shown no willingness to revisit the issue. To me- and many others - the language of the 2nd Amendment is clear: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." But the latest ruling (2008) of the US Supreme Court says otherwise. They, in a 5-4 vote, basically said that there can be few or no lawful restrictions. In earlier rulings (respectively 1876 and 1936)the SCOTUS said ""The right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution; neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence" and limited the applicability of the Second Amendment to the federal government." and "In United States v. Miller (1939), the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government and the states could limit any weapon types not having a "reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia". (Gleaned from several sites in Wikipedia.) You UKers have only yourselves to blame. Did you know that: "The Second Amendment was based partially on the right to keep and bear arms in English common-law and was influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689. Sir William Blackstone described this right as an auxiliary right, supporting the natural rights of self-defense, resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state."
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