Once again I point out that there are a number of legitimate uses for guns, including sport shooting, hunting, etc.

There are many well thought out posts here, and many more that are not well though out. But the winner for succinctness is Patty Clink. Right on, Patty.

I have the ability to legally carry a concealed weapon in my home state. I can count the number of times I have done so on one hand.

Many of you try to shift the premise of the debate to "why should you be able to have a gun? What purpose does it serve other than to kill?" That is not the issue. The issue is "Why should I give up a right that I have always had, I have not abused, I have always followed the law?" I understand folks that have never had weapons as a part of their culture. But in this country, we have always had this right. Hunting and shooting sports have been a part of our culture from the beginning. In addition to the sporting aspect, there are many utilitarian uses for guns, including handguns, in farming and rural areas. I don't expect anti hunters to accept this, and we will have to disagree. But imagine if you are a person who has been raised in the environment that I have been raised in.   Virtually every family in the community has firearms (including handguns) and uses them for hunting, target shooting, farm work, varmint control, etc. There is no violent crime, and in anyone's memory there has only been one accident involving firearms. Then, because an unbalanced young man decides to take revenge for a lifetime of perceived insults and kill as many folks as possible. He chooses a firearm as the weapon of his revenge and his suicide. Folks in my community don't see a gun as the problem. They see a sad case of a young man who was ill and acted out in a tragic way. Tim McVeigh did the same thing. The thought that their weapons were part of the problem never enters their mind, because these weapons aren't part of the problem.

Solve the problems of a society that is starting to run amok. Acknowledge that in our haste to demonize government programs, cut funding on necessary social programs, glorify capitalism to the point that all actions can be justified in the interest of profits, we have created a society where many young people feel lost and hopeless. This is what causes a kid to pick up a gun and kill 32 innocents. When a wonderful and insighful prof tried to tell folks about this kid, nothing was done. Blame the system, and I am with you. Blame a system that failed to note his mental condition and allowed him to buy a gun, OK we can talk. But suggest that I give up a right that I have had all my life? Especially since taking the weapons from law abiding citizens won't materially change the dynamic? Silly, and further, the argument shows intellectual weakness.

Attack the cause of the disease, not the symptom.

Mick