Gun fanatics?

[Whitney]

In the USA guns are a fact of life.

Guns are not a fact of life in the US...the average person can go their whole life without needing to touch one and most will never have one pointed at them. 

Even for home defense the average person is better off remembering 911 than trying to pretend they are a hero.  An exception may exist for people who live in the ghetto or rural areas where police response times are lengthy.  Where I live they respond in less than 5 minutes for non-emergencies like strange sounds in the alley....I could hide for at least that long if someone was in my house.

If I felt the need to protect myself I'd probably have better luck with a well trained large dog than a gun; and the dog couldn't be turned against me.

[Gawen]

In the USA guns are a fact of life.

Guns are not a fact of life in the US...the average person can go their whole life without needing to touch one and most will never have one pointed at them. 

It is possible, Whitney, that Tank meant just what he said, and I'd have to agree with him. A person in the US may never ever touch a gun, let alone be on the muzzle side of it, but guns, like religion are a fact of life for every US citizen, even those prohibited them. Every constitutional point or Bill of Rights is a fact of life for US citizens whether they don't know what either of the papers say or come into some sort of contact with the papers points.

[Medusa]

It could depend upon your perspective. Living in Los Angeles, guns is not only a part of our lives..it's a part of our children's lives as well. 

[Xjeepguy]

I have owned quite a few firearms over the years, and although I have never pointed one at another human, they did give a sense of security. My family in general is heavily into firearms. Do I believe the 2nd amendment was written to be read as-is? Yes. Do I believe the founding fathers would have ever imagined firearms would ever cause the problems they have caused in this country? No. If they could see the country the way it is now, would they have still written the 2nd amendment the way they did? Never.

There is an irresponsible view toward firearms in this country. I would love to see more stringent gun laws to keep idiots from having access to them. It should be difficult to get a firearm, and firearm crime penalties should be very steep. Just my .02