I like to shoot, too. That doesn't meant I WANT to shoot anyone ---- but I would not hesitate in defending myself.

The weapons are not the problem. Someone has to make a conscious choice to use a weapon; the weapon doesn't just jump into their hands of its own accord. What we have to do, as good people, is stand up against evil - against those circumstances which cause someone to believe they need to use a weapon against someone else.

Are guns dangerous? Well, even a pair of scissors is dangerous in the wrong hands. We're going to ban scissors now? I think not.

There are people in the United States who still have to hunt for their food. They live in places like Alaska, Montana, Wyoming... out in the middle of nowhere, where they can't just bop down to the market for a snack.

I think you will find that in the US, the greatest pockets of crime are concentrated in very highly populated areas... New York City (although theirs has gone down lately), Washington DC (where handguns are illegal), Los Angeles... The crime rates in these concentrated areas cause the average for the whole US to go up. More people, more crime. Put two rats in a cage together and see if they don't get along okay; crowd a hundred of them in there and watch what happens.

I visited Cody, Wyoming several years ago, and read about the recent crime wave in their local paper: one bank window broken out, and a backhoe stolen from a construction site. Big contrast to what happens in the big city.

Like I said, if you don't want a gun, don't own one, but don't even think about telling me I can't. I do wholeheartedly agree, though, that guns need to be taken away from criminals. And when that happens, I'll think about melting mine down. But you don't see the President asking the Secret Service to disarm, do you?

Regards ------------- Kim