This is exactly what baffles me as well. I can't believe what I've been seeing as I've been watching "pro" 2nd Amendment rights representatives say this over and over. Even Bill O'Reilly whom I will admit I tune into to get his take on events is waffling. I mean even tonight the man totally disagreed that the 2nd Amendment was put into place to ward off a Tyrannical Government. Mean while his hooter gals where giving their take on AR-15's and their "telescope devices" (referring to collapsable butt-stocks).
I'm one of those that offered up a compromise, and let me see if I can clear up the stance:
Let's play out two scenarios-
1) conservatives stick to our stance of strict interpretation of the 2nd amendment, no compromise. We are seen as anti-children and pro-violence, Wild West and whatever else the media can pin on us. We lose again in the next election cycle because of it. Conservative judges are replaced throughout the court system. The 2nd amendment is reinterpreted, changed, whatever, and voila, it is not illegal to seize our guns.
2) conservatives give not on the right to bear, but rather how firearms are purchased and magazine size (you and I know that magazine size has NO correlation to ability to inflict mayhem, but most idiot Americans do). We are not labeled as anti-children or whatever, and are seen as trying to do something. We actually win an election or two and make sure pro-gun judges stay in office. The 2nd amendment is mostly protected.
i get what we as a group want, it's just facing facts in today's "immediate gratification" society. People will eat these short-sighted solutions up because they can say they did something and go back to their oblivion, and the politicians can get re-elected. Perception is reality to most people. Play to that perception. We (conservatives) lose national elections because our messaging is crap, not because our stances are wrong.
Pointing to what Bryan said in a previous post, someone took the guns away in other countries, and it can happen here if the laws change. Keep up the debate - it's healthy...