I can assure you there is no shortage of legally owned guns in Northern Ireland! And it's not restricted to "decent folk".

But if you noticed, I wasn't actually sounding-off against that right-to-bear-arms stuff. I was suggesting that there are situations where carrying a gun in your hand is not a reasonable thing to do.

On the occasions I have had to carry a gun (all legal), the only time I would ever have had it in my hand would have been when I was planning to shoot it. Slung over your shoulder, or in the crook of the elbow is one thing, but "in your hand" is something very different.