No, I am not 'relying'...as anyone does, I cite 'examples' I am familar with. (Did you read the one about the guy I knew personally? You said YOU had never known anyone who was careless or dangerous....I did.) I 'rely' on myriads of facts and stories and valued opinions of others for 45 years now. I did not start opposed to guns...I played at guns..I once owned a .22 pistol...briefly. I had no built-in opposition, or personal tragedies to color my opinions. I just ran what I knew, what I read and heard, what others (on BOTH sides) said, and what logic tells me, and was persuaded that as far as I could tell, the negative aspects of the USA's fairly open policy on personal ownership/possession of firearms has begun to to outweigh the positives.

This is not a frontier society any longer, and YOUR argument that "my family has always had 'em, so why should I give 'em up?", doesn't move me a lot when I see the monthly reports of robbery & assault in DC and other cities. (I do NOT see many reports of 'honest citizens defending themselves with guns'.)

Exactly, Bill. I used to be a "dead eye" with a 9mm and still have the 22 single shot rifle I grew up with in my parents' house. I don't have any bullets in the house. I quit target-practice when I moved East.

Our gun culture has stifled my desire to yell at folks who drive by our house going 50mph in a 20mph posted zone because ya never know...one of them may have a gun and come back to blow my head off in a fit of rage. Chances are it would be when I least expect it and unless I am going to start walking around with a six-iron on my hip, I would never get a chance to defend myself against such an attack, so...I keep my mouth shut.

Attack me, belittle me, and dismiss the personal stories of tragedy all you want Mick. They are still tragedies and they happen everyday in homes with legal guns and parents who think they are being careful. The world is not as black and white as you seem to think it is...lots of gray areas. It doesn't matter what tradition is...the world is a lot different than it used to be and some things need to change. I don't know what the answers are, but there's got to be a better way than what is happening right now.

kat