[jyl]

Guns are deeply rooted in the American pysche. It is the Wild West history, the self-reliant man living off the land thing, and also the defiant revolutionaries fighting the British. I have been a shooter since childhood, own a fair number of guns, have a concealed carry permit, am a NRA member, and strongly support the right of lawful ciizens to own and carry guns.

I realize that in the USA of 2007, the fact is that very few people are living off the land, and that both the Wild West and the Revolutionary War are long past. And I realize that the rate of gun crime in the USA is far higher than in any other civilized, developed country. So, to be honest, if we could magically and permanently and with complete effectiveness eliminate all guns from the USA, from the hands of criminals and lawful citizens alike, excepting only the police and military, then I would probably support it. I would reluctantly choose zero guns over widespread guns.

But zero guns is not a realistic possibility in the USA - not given appx 200MM guns in circulation and the ease of smuggling things into the country (illegal drugs get in just fine, for example). Any attempt to achieve zero guns would only mean taking guns away from lawful citizens - like me - while leaving them in the hands of criminals. That, to me, would be a worse situation than the present one. So, I think the status quo is the better of the realistic alternatives.