The soul purpose of a gun is to shoot a bullet. In fact, I would go so far to say that most bullets that have been fired, have been fired at papers on a board or other targets. The soul purpose of a sword is to kill people - you can't exactly hunt with it. Yet, would you look at someone who had a sword on the wall of their house as a violent person? There are almost as many guns in the US as there are people - so any gun violence is a VERY VERY small percentage of that number. Not to mention - virtually all the crimes committed using guns are committed by criminals who did not buy the gun legally anyway. Im not advocating letting a parolee out after being in jail 10 years for armed robbery and letting him buy a thompson gun. I'm saying that your average and responsible adult has the right to have a gun whether anyone likes it or not.
When you hold an antique gun in your hand, you get that feeling of someone elses life. Its not any different than holding a finely crafted hand blown piece of glass from the 1800s, or looking at a painting. Someone spent a lot of time and effort on making it. When I hold a pre-WW1 Russian Mosin Nagant in my hands, I get that feeling, thinking of how many people held it, the life they lived, what this gun might of meant to them. Not to mention they only cost around 100 dollars. When I hold an AK47 I feel much the same way, Most of the AK's you can buy were made in the 60s-80's, during a turbulent time in the world. Tell me you wouldn't consider owning Hitler's personal sidearm or the gun that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, maybe the cheap caraco rifle that took JFK's life(supposedly). Every gun from a war has a story, a history, and when you hold it you can only imagine the lives that surrounded it.
A newer gun does not have all that, but you still think of the people who use a gun like it, maybe the soldiers in Iraq or the rebels in many countries. Not to mention the 'I love this shit WOOO" feeling you get when blasting off a few hundred rounds at water bottles. If I had to guess, Id say gun ownership hurts people less than cellphone, television, and video game ownership.
The most important thing to remember is: In our society, the rights of the individual outweigh the rights of society. If an individual isn't causing damage to those around him, then society should mind its own business. Its not POTENTIAL for damage, its actual damage that I speak of. Not what you think might happen, but what a person really does. Learning Karate for instance, does that make you a violent person? Isn't Karate basically a fighting style used to harm other people? Sure, it involves meditation and learning to breath and control your body, but so does sniping.
Carthoris