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Different things can have a similar effect, yet still be different
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Exactly. Which is why your use of changing what I would propose to a scenario concerning the right to vote isn't relevant. We're not discussing the right to vote, we're discussing the right of the people to own tools that can directly end ones life, be it theirs or others.
More abstract, broader rights don't have the hard ability to do this like this specific one does. I think it is reasonable that an ignorant public be educated first in order to exercise this potentially dangerous right. The people are free to exercise their rights so long as they don't harm others while doing so. Guns are dangerous and the potential for accidental and unintentional misuse is high, be it from ignorance or carelessness.
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Not everything that is unconstitutional is a terrible idea; it just isn't constitutionally viable.
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That's for the courts to decide I suppose. However, I think that for the preservation of the right to bear arms, compromises like this must be made relatively soon. Constitutions can be amended, all it takes is a convenient lineup of politicians. With today's polarization that isn't an infeasible situation.