Mr. Happy, I apologize if my post in this thread seemed appallingly flippant. Responsible gun ownership is certainly preferable to irresponsible gun ownership, and sober gun ownership to inebriated gun ownership. I don't own a gun, and haven't fired one since I was in Scouts.

I live in a part of Seattle where gunfire is not a frequent occurrence, indeed, I don't recall ever having heard anyone shooting a gun hereabouts (though detonation of fairly large, dangerous firecrackers is common, particularly around New Year's and, especially, the 4th of July).

However, in your initial post you wrote "guns should all be done away with- their only purpose is to hurt people", and I must differ with you on that point. They serve many other purposes as well, including hurting other animals, making loud putatively festive noises, and keeping the authorities nervous about the populace.

Haruo