Here is my view on gun ownership...
I received my first 'gun' as a ten year old boy...a Daisy BB gun not a pellet rifle. Killed so many birds with it I just am ashamed. Shot my sister in the ass once and then shot myself in the finger to keep her from telling on me...regret that also. First gun I ever shot was a 410 single shot bolt action shotgun given to me by my grandfather and still held for me by my mother. That was also very early maybe 11 or 12. Always under strict adult supervision. Then after the teenage years a whole slew of guns came my way...everything from 'bee stinger' 22 25 and 32's pocketable to AK-47 Norinco made in China..kick ass craftsmanship BTW don't ever let anyone tell you made in China is BS because it is not true. 30.06 WW1 era rifle sporterized with scope used by my PT boat driving grandpa in WW2. I have a good buddy actually a friend of my father's who turned me onto shooting HK full autos and one time I shot a silenced Ruger Mark II loaded with subsonic short cases with xtra long lead nose bullet to make cartridge a long rifle...all you could hear was the action of the slide. I do not hunt animals and have not ever hunted animals with a gun besides the mentioned birds. Now I shoot strictly with camera. I have not kept any guns in my home since the kids were born. Anyone who gives a four year old a gun is a moron and should not have neither guns nor children in my book. One set of grandparents do keep guns in the house they are in a safe however...the other set have them put away due to the grandchildren. This grandparent shoots bows and arrows and does live blade training Aikido with oldest boy instead. Guns are ever present in my whole story...the one gun I do have in my house is an old Crosman pellet rifle...at twenty feet I am a natural born killer with it. One shot to the eye and you are toast.
I believe a big problem with our police forces (and citizenry) nowadays is that they face a dangerous armed society. I would not want to be a policeman in America nowadays. I'm glad we have guns because knives would be crazy bloody.
As double d 123 says it is a way of life here. It came about because of the wild west frontier thing. You had to hunt to survive even in recent times.
All that being said I would gladly give up my right to bear arms to live in a place such as Singapore. Guns are fun to target shoot and fun to fondle like our cameras sort of. I have experienced them so they are not that big a deal to me. They are not toys. They must be respected.
I commend your founding father for how he dealt with such issues in your country.
I really would like to have a Norinco 84 S and about 10K rounds of ammo for it!
With modern day 3D printers no government will be able to stop a person from getting a gun. The ammo will be the problem in the future.
I now tell my children not to hunt it is to easy to go buy steak at Wal Mart...if you must hunt be stealthy and practice your skills...and then try to get the shot...with a camera!
Guns are for killing...try not to kill...I have been told it is not something you want to mess with.
