Artbrooks, put me in the minority, too. Although I was raised with guns, target practising, and enjoyed it, I haven't shot a gun in almost twenty years and only own one very old .22 single shot rifle which belonged to my dad.

In all of my time living back East, in some of the not so great areas, I never felt a need to have a gun and never had problems with any break-ins. Only when I moved back to Wyoming did I have a problem when some drunk ass drove past me and shot across the back of my car in the middle of the night while I was taking my daughter to the hospital. All of my friends out here urged me to get a gun and told me tales of how they would have chased the fellow down and blown him off the road. Sorry, not my cup of tea. And, Sorchadarlin', NOT everyone in Wyoming owns guns, the majority, yes, but not all of us.

The old cowboy mentality was what I was raised with: weapons were kept out of the reach of children, said children knew how to use them, but also knew they'd be in deep shit if they ever took one down without permission. We were also taught to never use a gun in anger and never, ever point it at someone unless we meant to use the deadly force we were all too aware of. A lot of people, like Sorcha, still teach these ways, but I've seen too many drunks kill their spouses or kids accidentally shoot their friends, or a kid going home from school and getting out the family gun to successfully commit suicide. In a perfect world, there would be no guns, anywhere, for lack of need or desire.

kat