Banning guns would be a violation of civil rights, and Payton's comments make it clear he is
advocating for additional gun restrictions:
"I hate guns. ... I've heard people argue that everybody needs a gun. That's madness. I know there are many kids who grow up in a hunting environment. I get that. But there are places, like England, where even the cops don't have guns," Payton said.
He looked up information on the internet about the .45 large caliber gun that killed Smith.
"We could go online and get 10 of them, and have them shipped to our house tomorrow," Payton said. "I don't believe that was the intention when they allowed for the right for citizens to bear arms."
"Two hundred years from now, they're going to look back and say, 'What was that madness about?' " Payton told Jarrett Bell and USA Today. "The idea that we need them to fend off intruders ... people are more apt to draw them (in other situations). That's some silly stuff we're hanging onto."
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is not "some silly stuff we're hanging onto." It is a fundamental civil right guaranteed both by the US and the Louisiana Constitutions.
See:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...th-i-hate-guns
Perhaps the problem would be clearer for some if he was advocating taking away the right to vote rather than RKBA.