Were I to develop a penchant for masochism and to run for elected office, my opponent would no doubt profit immensely from informing the voters that I was against the Second Amendment before I was for it. He would be correct. To grow up in modern Britain is to be marinated in that country’s aversion to anything that slips the surly bonds of moderation, and I absorbed by osmosis the idea that, on the question of guns, my American friends were quietly batty. I had no objection to guns per se — I even enjoyed firing one every now and …