BBC’s chronicle of Britain’s gun laws is a cautionary tale for us Yanks and coincides nicely with the news that the Supreme Court could soon take on the 2nd Amendment.

The justices are facing a decision about whether to hear an appeal from city officials in Washington, D.C., wanting to keep the capital’s 31-year ban on handguns. A lower court struck down the ban as a violation of the Second Amendment rights of gun ownership.

The prospect that the high court might define gun rights under the Constitution is making people on both sides of the issue nervous.

The main issue before the justices is whether the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own guns or instead spells out the collective right of states to maintain militias. The former interpretation would permit fewer restrictions on gun ownership.

Regardless of the ban - or because of it, D.C.’s homicide rate ranks among the nation’s highest.

No matter which way the Supremes act, someone will be angry. As for me and my house, we will keep our guns. We are not British. We saw the slippery slope and want nothing to do with it.

Hat tip: Rachel. And I agree wholeheartedly with her sentiment.