arnold and dan-o you are wrong.
its a comforting feeling to own a gun, but that has to be balanced with the chance that you'll be subject to gun crime.
the many countries it is illegal to poses a firearm- even bb guns in fact- and even replicas.
those countries have many times less murder and violent/accidental death toll than those that allow it.
criminals will be criminals- with or without guns. if they have guns, the chances of someone really getting hurt rises 10 fold. If the victim has a gun, the chances rise further.
its a false security that results in a higher death toll.
none of you guys mentioned the massacres that have occurred. when its that easy to get hold of weapons, these things happen.
its just that the US is so used to this that its scary to think of it being any different. if its so important then why not just allow tasers and outlaw guns?
with tight gun control it makes it much easier for the law to identify the law breakers and control imports- it also makes their job easier as for the most part its only law enforcement that has the weapons.
all of the other responses to my comments have been speculation without fact.
heres the facts, guns kill.
a criminal will be a criminal- with a gun theres a chance he'll murder.
a victim with a gun will attempt to defend themselves- the result could be murder rather than robbery.
remove guns, and violent crime still occurs- knives and so on. not much you can do about that.
of all the massacres recently, none were committed by hardened criminals- just people with some screws loose who could easily obtain guns.
easy gun access has resulted in the assassination of many great leaders.
innocent people get killed by drive by shootings every day.
and so on.
guns have become a security blanket for americans. places that have made weapons illegal have shown massive reduction in murder, massacre and accidental death.
having a gun does not make you safe. it makes the perp think twice, sure, but criminals will be criminals, and adding a gun, or guns to the mix increased the chance of death. remove all guns and the outcome is likely just crime.
what do you want?- to be robbed and survive- or be killed or kill.?
ok its complex, but IMO guns make arguments explosive, and weirdos dangerous.