The Gun Ownership Issue

The Bellesiles story is still making waves. I don't see why it takes a historian or a scholar to debunk his claims. Colonial America was still very close to wilderness. Not only did people use rifles for protection from hostile Indians and hunting, but the colonies/states all had militias. Bellesiles' claims that private gun ownership wasn't widespread just beggars common sense.

Sometimes, I think we're getting carried away with scholarly studies. Who reads them all? Government agencies spend huge parts of their budgets on churning out reports and studies than no one except lawyers ever reads. It would surely stagger the minds of taxpayers to see the cost of all our environmental, OSHA, and other regulations. It's a stultifying work environment to have to try to apply them, as well.