I was in London a few years back on one of those double decker tour buses and as we passed Scotland Yard, the tour announcer said that the officers of Scotland Yard now carried pistols...
When I asked if ordinary citizens could carry now, she looked at me with a disgusted look and said "You must be an American."
Later when we had stopped at a pub and I was conversing with a couple from the tour who asked why the American obsession over having guns like it was still the Wild West's rules and everybody goes around shooting everybody.
I explained that for me at least, that was not it
"You are in your home. An intruder, high on drugs, psychotic, thinks you are having an affair with his wife, just losing it over what is going on in his life, whatever, random, starts breaking in. You and your family retreat to the master bedroom closet, your "safe room", locking doors as you go.
You scream, "take what you want, just leave us alone."
You hear the bedroom door break.....the closet door is being kicked in....
The closet door flies open....
In your eyes it is your family's lives or the intruder's......in American at this point you have the right to defend yourself with deadly force.....
At this moment, as rare as it might be it does happen, don't you have the right to defend yourself with the finest armament of your choice?"
They then at least understood the view a rational American has about owning runs. To poorly quote Ice-T:
"I don't own guns for target practice.
I don't own guns to hunt.
I own guns to protect myself from a crazed psychotic individual or government."
that right there....
