Gun Control & RKBA

nuc uni: You're citing two of histories worst tyrants as a legal precedent to justify your position?

Nero & Caligula you think were amongst the worst tyrants in history? on a plane with pol pot, stalin, hitler, Dracula, Torquemada(?);
Hardly, they were too young (29 & 31 at death) to ever have really reached that distinction; indeed Nero's first 5 years are referred to as 'golden' years. Caligula & Nero just ended up run of the mill incompetent roman emperors who done some good & committed a few atrocities plus the usual gamut of rights & wrongs, not the first not the last. Nero's 'genocide' against Christians is probably overstated.

gaius, 4 yrs as emp: Caligula’s ambitious construction projects, craving for luxury and unrestrained squander resulted in his losing the enormous imperial inheritance left by his predecessor Tiberius, and led to crippling taxes, frenzied price surges and veiled robbery. Moreover, Caligula declared himself a living god .. Caligula’s policies led to numerous tensions and conspiracies, and after four years in power he was assassinated

He was killed by his praetorian guard (presumably a roman tyrant's solid ally); a tyrant back then was generally someone who used military power to ascend to power (military coup), but a tyrant was not always considered evil - some tyrants were considered improvements over the erstwhile regime. I suspect 'veiled robbery' as including 'confiscatio'.

(Nero, ~14 yrs emp): To the Romans, the Christian movement was just another cult—a treasonous cult which already operated in violation of multiple Roman laws. Romans were already suspicious of any religion other than those the state had approved, and they readily accepted the Christians as a threat to the state. The persecutions that followed were cruel, but not without precedent—and they’re more suggestive of canny political maneuvering than genuine insanity. http://listverse.com/2013/04/29/9-reasons-caligula-and-nero-were-saner-than-you-think/

In his first five years as emperor, Nero gained a reputation for political generosity, promoting power-sharing with the Senate and ending closed-door political trials ... His most lasting artistic legacy, though, was his re-creation of Rome following the fire that destroyed most of the city... In the centuries followed his reign, the name Nero would become a byword for debauchery, misrule and anti-Christian persecution.

Re: How many Christians were killed during the Nero's persecution & How many Jews were killed during the Jewish Revolt?
... (low baller): A couple of years ago I took a course in Church history, and our professor, after reviewing various sources put the number of martyrs in the first century at between 3000 and 5000. Total number from the first to the third century is estimated at 100,000. http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=141841

(How many Christians killed by nero?): Not vast numbers, probably numbering in the hundreds, or a couple of thousand, Christianity was only 20+ years old, the religion was still based in the middle east, there was no bible yet, a few believers had travelled to Rome to preach and had undoubtedly attracted followings but certainly not in large numbers, Christianity didn't come to the forefront of Roman religious life for another 350+ years and even then only 1/3 of the population were followers, so if after 350 years they had only got 1/3 of the population then their impact after 20 will be seriously small. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101122183604AA8YirF

Nero's praetorian guards abandoned him: The greatest threat to Nero’s reign, however, was the Great Fire, which began on July 64 AD and lasted for six days. Ten of the fourteen districts of the city were destroyed, hundreds died, thousands were left homeless, and looters ravaged the city ... he had to raise taxes to finance the rebuilding of Rome, the city was better in some ways than before: rebuilt residential districts, wider streets, brick buildings, and colonnades at street level to shelter to residents from the sun.
The fire, the conspiracy, the numerous insurrections, and the empty treasury led to Nero’s demise. The Senate declared him an enemy of the public and named Galba as the new emperor. Realizing his days as emperor were over, Nero attempted suicide but failed and needed help to take his own life. http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/nero