Elektra
Whils't I agree that wise parenting can make the use of the most dangerous weapon "safe" in the hands of some - the item that most of us non USA citizen's find hard to comprehend is that simple statistics show that USA children are more at risk than any other nation from guns - that is there is a simple and good correlation between the number of guns in the USA per head of population and the number of child deaths by shooting, whether accidental or intentional, and it is higher than any where else in th world.

Lastly, and not directed to you personally, it has never taken the working classes long to arm themselves to sufficient levels to win a war against there own governments should the need really arise. Civil war will never be comfortable so why keep weapons for an eventuality which will probably never happen but further risks the life of your child.

Nearly last, within any population there will be an unstable element, look at MudCat!, so good parenting will never happen accross the whole population - therefore arms should be issued only to those who really need them and then under the most stringent of controls. Don't trust your government just vote them out if they ain't trustworthy.