Well said Chris! Maybe this thread should not worry about changing people's minds as much as finding some common ground. Rather than insisting on banning guns, or on arming everyone, why not find some point on which all of us (unless "us" includes the NRA) might be able to agree? For example, why do we need armor piercing ammunition? Why do we need semi-automatic weapons, outside of the military? Why can't we require the licensing of gun owners, along with pre-requisite training in the use and handling of firearms?

On the other side of the coin, why not recognize our hunter/gatherer origins and quit trying to disarm those who are responsible gun owners and users? To not eat meat is a matter of personal choice. I don't personally feel the need to kill a deer, either with a gun, or a bow or with my bare hands, for that matter. But I recognize the roots of this desire as a human trait, as deeply rooted in our genes as the desire to make music (or babies).

We (here in the States)will never be able to put in place the controls that seem reasonable and necessary if every move toward control is seen by law-abiding gun owners as a step toward confiscation.

I firmly believe that we will get there someday. But we have a heck of a lot of evolving to do as a species first.

P.S. Maybe if the boy scouts would start selling cookies they'd be off the endangered species list. . .