"...if there are so many guns in this country, and the owners are so careless and mindless as you imply they are, how come we aren't all wading around in blood?"

my, you read a lot into what I actually said!...where did I say gun owners are careless & mindless? One doesn't need to be "careless & mindless" to be targeted when one's guard is down. That is what rapists and muggers and car-jackers and bank robbers and plain anti-social extremists...etc...DO! And if an 'extra' free gun is one result of a lawless act, many will attempt it..the element of surprise will allow all too many to succeed.

And "...wading around in blood.." is a straw man-- a presumption that only the most extreme problems require preventative measures. Many families every year see all the unnecessary blood they care for, due to careless and/or illegal use of guns.

I have no intent to ban all firearms, but I see NO good that can come of a return to the Old West tradition of self-defense. That was fine, and often NECESSARY when sheriffs were few and widely dispersed, and guns were slow firing and often inaccurate and ammunition was carefully hoarded. Those kids at Columbine High had an arsenal of high powered, fast firing weapons available....obtained by a little deception and tolerated by society.

(please don't tell me that "guns don't kill people, people kill people" and that education and social change are needed, not gun control...'cars' don't run over people either, careless people do, but cars are MUCH more a requirement, especially in the West, than guns are.)

as I said, let me write the laws---hunters will still be able to hunt, collectors of classic weapons will still be able to collect...but kids with bad attitudes will have to WORK much harder to take out their frustrations on their classmates!