@RobinTKD You made some interesting points, but one thing struck me again and again. It was when you kept insisting that if no one had access to guns then our need to defend ourselves would be equally reduced. I'm a big guy (but getting older all the time) with a background in MA and live in a very safe country with respect to violent crime. You're a young man with a background in MA. I'll assume that means you're at least slightly athletic and in decent shape. So we're both able to handle ourselves fairly well I'd say. So the odds of a criminal who's looking for an easy score singling either of us out are probably lower.
Go back and look at the several articles that Elder99 linked to, did you notice something many of the articles had in common? The largest growing group of gun owners in the US, for many years, has been senior citizens. You and I are healthy guys capable of holding our own in a fight. But how would either of us realistically fair against 2-3 opponents at the same time? Now put my 82 year old mother in our place. (Heart condition, diabetes, arthritis, 2 artificial knees and an artificial shoulder) I think that she might present an easy target to some thug looking for an easy paycheck. I have a wife and 2 very beautiful daughters aged 24 and 25. Since they're all Japanese, they're all fairly petite by western standards. They wouldn't scare off any tough guy on their looks alone. In fact, their looks might attract more unwanted attention in the form of some kind of rape or assault. But any of those 4 women with a pistol and the training and will to use it would be more than a match for 2-3 men much larger than themselves. That's why senior citizens are attracted to guns. That's why women who don't relish being robbed, kidnapped, beaten, or raped buy handguns in larger numbers every year. Specifically because they can carry a concealed firearm with them when they travel or when they're at home without causing alarm to others, but can protect themselves and others should they have to. I think that's a pretty good thing to keep in mind. It reminds me of a comment I once heard: "Why do I carry a gun? Because I can't carry a cop."
