So what are the stats on the effectiveness of using guns defensively vs the increased number of homicides, gun-violence and crime caused by easy access to guns? My guess is that the latter greatly outweighs the former. The occasional story about the old granny who saved the day doesn't compare to the avalanche of stories of murders and other gun-related violent crimes happening daily.
I keep hearing the argument about needing guns "to protect our loved ones", but how many homicides and accidents are caused by family members with easy access to a gun? I don't think it creates a safer society -- just the illusion of one. The only reason you feel like you need a gun is because everyone else has one too.
As Turbo points out, there are lots of whack jobs out on the street. Maybe you feel you are a level headed person and have the right to own a gun to protect your family, but it also means every trigger happy nut-job with an anger-management problem on the street also has that same right. Personally I would give up that right if that meant all the crazies didn't have one. I'm not worried about the level-headed people -- I'm worried about the unstable ones!
The stats don't lie... there are plenty of countries with strict gun laws that have far lower gun-related crime and gun-related homicides per capita than the US. Even in Canada where we've had a rash of recent gun-related violence, we're still FAR safer than the US. The problem as others have stated is that the genie is out of the bottle, and there's no way to enforce effective gun control in the US anymore. It doesn't mean that gun control is a bad thing -- it just means that it's not going to work in the US.
It's interesting, because if you go to certain places in Africa, the middle-east, and Asia, you can't walk two feet without people strutting around with AK-47's. Lawlessness is rampant. The value of a human life is zero. There are armed guards around your housing complex, at the grocery store, and at your work. When you leave for work in the morning, you don't know if you're going to make it home in the evening. When you take your kids to the ice cream store, there are two big guys at the door with machine guns to protect you. EVERYBODY has a gun but NOBODY feels safe.
I had the wonderful experience of being carjacked with a gun to my head in one of these places. For all they knew I could have been carrying a gun, but it was hardly a deterrent. No thank you... you can keep your fricking guns.
