A good question for our friends at the other side of the pond....

[Mr Spock]

There are very few outright "gun nuts" although they do exist. Most of us are hunters or protecting our family - although a large percentage of the "self defense" category have never fired their guns, and would get themselves killed if they ever had a breakin. Still more talk more than they shoot, which is a deterrent but hopefully they're never called on to back it up. That said, there are plenty of us who know how to use our firearms and are capable of pulling the trigger if necessary.

This is one reason why I do not have a gun. I (being reasonably intelligent) know that I would need time and training to use the gun and maintain it correctly. Since I do not have the time to do this I would rather not have a gun at this time. Also I live in a manufactured home (double wide trailer) and the walls are thin enough that a bullet would probably go all the way through if it missed.

As to carrying a gun the one company I worked for would allow it in your own car (not a company car) and you had to maintain a 1 million dollar liability insurance policy.

[Nieu]

I know this post is all about USA , but for safety reasons there is a lot of tech's in South Africa that also carries a few extra items in there pockets.Just for safety

[pioneer007]

I dont know of any consealed gun toters. I know of many hunters with deer rifles and such, thats about it.
Personally I have a Smith Weson .38 that belonged to my mother. Inherited when she passed away in 95.
She was a lieutenant at the WA state penitentiary and had to target qualify yearly as an officer. Nice gun, never fired it, but does give a sense of security.

What you see on TV about America and our constitutional right to carry them are mostly the radical left throwing a tremendous spin job!
Makes for good TV viewing and ratings!

Imortal words of the Beatles:
"When I feel my finga on your trigga, I know, nobody can do me no harm"

[Eric1968]

Here in Holland it's illegal to carry guns. When nobody is allowed to carry a gun, the less weapens there are, the less shootings there are.
The average dutch police officer uses his gun a few times in 40 years of service! And I think we are a pretty safe country.

[Shadow1]

The average dutch police officer uses his gun a few times in 40 years of service! And I think we are a pretty safe country.

The average US officer never fires his gun except at the range.

There is a big push by the left to make it illegal to own a gun, saying it will reduce crime. Sounds all well and good, except that there these people out there called criminals who are committing all the crimes, and they don't obey the laws - which is why we call them criminals... Duh! You'd better believe they'll have guns - it makes their "job" so much easier.

These same leftward idiots have wussified our courts and jails to the point where the law is not a deterrent anymore: for a mugger who MIGHT get caught, and MIGHT actually get prosecuted, and MIGHT get convicted, well, he MIGHT get a slap on the wrist and serve a couple months in a jail where he gets 3 meals a day, a warm bed to sleep in, cable TV, exercise equipment, and educational opportunities. Not even a good 'ol chain gang anymore.

On the other hand if granny MIGHT pull a .357 out of that purse he's trying t steal and blow his ass away - well, that's a deterrent.

The media in this country spotlights the relatively few accidental shootings and breakins gone bad, but never touches the crimes stopped by armed citizens. What if a single teacher with a CCW permit had a firearm at Columbine? 26 children could have been saved.

Sorry guys, you've pushed one of my hot buttons on this.

[Vista Tech]

As being one of those so called "gun nuts" I've kept my wep around me for many years. My dad bought me my first gun when I was 12, 20ga over under Winchester, and I've been shooting since I was 9. Never killed anyone, but my guns have been upholstered a few times when a situation has gotten out of hand and if the fire arm wasn't brought into play someone would surely have died. I was always told to never draw my weapon unless I mean to use it, so with that taken into consideration I really don't even let the thought of taking it out come into play when the situation is not life threatening. I carry a Glock 40 in my vehicle and have a CCW. Even tho I have a CCW I NEVER take my weapon on to schools or into banks.

I own quite a few weapons which by some would be considered an arsenal, but honestly unless a person has 3+ of the SAME WEAPON its not an arsenal and those that consider it an arsenal are ignorant.

Just like it was stated in a prior post, if everyone had a CCW or carried there would be less crime. The town I actually live in (Sierra Vista, AZ) has a lower crime rate then other towns the same size because EVERYONE PACKS A FIREARM. Down from the little old lady to the kid who just turned 18 and wants to carry his gun. To be perfectly honest I worked as a gas station attendant I felt safer when I knew there were at least 5 people in that gas station that had a weapon on them, just because we have an illegal alien problem in southern AZ and I wasn't allowed to carry at work.

The point is guns don't harm anyone, nor force people to harm anyone. They are a tool which good people use to stop bad people from taking advantage of the other wussy American's who won't defend themselves. People who think that guns are bad are obviously the same people who voted for Obama because the media told them to. Responsibility is the key when owning a weapon, same thing with driving a car. Vehicles kill more people per year then guns do in America, why doesn't the president try and make those completely illegal?

[Voltage]

Here in South Africa, if go into a club they search you for weapons. If you do not have one, they give you one

Just joking. These days its very difficult getting a license for a weapon. Legally that is. As if the people committing the crimes have a license.

Guns do not kill people, people kill people.

[atwageman]

Criminals will always have guns. The leftists and socialists in this country just can't seem to accept that.

Recently there was a home invasion in my area. Two idiots thought they would go over to the wealthy side of town and rob somebody in the middle of the night. That was the last mistake they ever made. Both were sent home in body bags. The homeowner was a law abiding, gun carrying citizen. Had he and his wife not been armed, then most likely they would be dead. The parents of the two idiots got on local TV and proclaimed their children were such good model citizens and such. A reporter from the local TV station picked up copies of their criminal histories at the police station. Both idiots had rap sheets 5 miles deep. All of a sudden mom and dad quit giving interviews.

[TonerMunkeh]

Aye, we found a similar thing over here. Our lovely government (wankers) banned all pistols, rimfire and centrefire. Gun crime in this country has steadily increased year on year since the ban.

Don't get me wrong, the Dunblane massacre was a disgusting, awful act of murder, but what difference did it make? Some types of gun were made illegal, the rest were more strictly licensed. I mean no offence to you guys over the pond with this, but a lot worse has happened over there and you are still allowed to carry more or less whatever you want, limited to rocket launchers, obviously.

[Vista Tech]

Thats exactly our point. We don't have the types of hanus crimes you guys have over there BECAUSE we carry weapons. Think of it this way, IF you were a criminal and about to do something incredibly stupid, you would most likely think twice about doing it if you were to be shot before it even happened.

Every time something insane happens in America it gets BLOWN out of proportion by the leftest media.