The logic I'm operating under goes like this:
The rifles I want are desperately obsolete. High-powered and designed to kill yes, a hundred years ago. By today's standards they're large, heavy and cumbersome. Low capacity magazines with a relatively low rate of fire. Bolt action and stuff. Not to mention, not so easy to find anymore.
Handguns? Why, I could go buy one right now. No reason why I personally wouldn't qualify. Handguns are small, compact and concealable. They are easy to use and have a high rate of fire. Yet, they don't have the range or the velocity to take properly take down animals. If you can't hunt with it what else are you supposed to shoot with it then?
I live in the Philadelphia metro area which includes such places as Trenton and Camden NJ, where the police forces are being systematically cut even in the face of increasing crime rates. Hell, the crime rates in the entire area are rising, which goes against the national trend. In light of that, I view handgun ownership as doing more to put the people around you in jeopardy than defend yourself. You get robbed on the street, you can replace your cell phone, your wallet, your band cards, your media player, etc. No reason to start a shoot out and to take a life over material stuff.
And you know what? We don't have enough control over our own fates to prevent ourselves from falling victim to violent crime in the first place. Anyone who thinks they can prevent it are deluding themselves and firearms are a false tonic creating a false sense of security that they can't possibly enforce.
Also, the way I understand the 2nd Amendment, long arms were surely covered as they're pretty close to what colonial militias themselves used.
