Undestanding Guns?

Question

I am from Canada and I know our views on guns are different but I would like to know what % of American citizens own a hand gun. I was viewing questions yesterday that someone asked what make of gun they should purchase and some of the replies were surprising ---"I have this make at home and this type for my car and this one for the office" Just how many guns fights do you have on the way to work?
Our crime rate is way to high as well and 98% of gun crimes are drive by shooting involving drug buyers and sellers. (hopefully they will wipe each other out) and me owning a gun would have no affect on a drive by.
-please be polite
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You got a little excited about the question...... I am sorry if you thought I was coming over to collect them -- gee
I respect your right to have them as well as my right to a question

Answer 1

All it takes is one time where you need a gun and actually have one for it to pay off. Most people never will, but, just like winning the lottery, you never know when it might happen. I'd rather have one and not ever need it, than the converse.

You're correct about the predominant makeup of gun violence, it is mostly drug related. There are enough random robberies, home invasion, carjacks, etc. to make carrying a firearm a reasonable option though.

Answer 2

We Americans like guns for many reasons. Probably the best reason to own a firearm is self protection.

It's not that we have continual gun fights on the way to work. Rather, it's the proliferation of firearms that reduce the number of violent altercations. If this sounds strange to you, consider the fact that jurisdictions that make it difficult or impossible for a law abiding citizen to own a handgun have the highest crime rates.

Criminals prefer to perpetrate their crimes where and when they have an advantage. A criminal feels much safer attacking an unarmed victim. But more importantly than that, just the idea that the person witnessing the attack may be armed is a good deterrent.

If you feel safer being unarmed in Canada, that is your right. Most Americans see things differently. Despite over forty years of anti-gun propaganda in our main steam media, firearms are more popular here than ever.

Answer 3

The amount of people in the U.S that own a handgun is relatively low, and the amount of people that have a CCW (concealed carry weapons permit) is lower yet. Statistically speaking, the likelihood that one person is to get into a "gun fight" going to work is nearly nonexistent, but the possibility of being a victim in a violent crime of some sort during the course of a lifetime is quite high. Since only about half of your life is spent in the home, it makes sense to carry a firearm outside of it. No one denies the need for a police officer to carry a pistol, they have dangerous jobs. However, there are many jobs that will put a person in dangerous situations from time to time, and often they are denied the basic right to self-defense.

"me owning a gun would have no affect on a drive by."

I can't fault you for this comment. It's logical. It makes sense. It's futile for me to own a gun, why allow anyone to own a gun? But your looking at the big picture from a small perspective. For instance: I have no use for a skateboard. I can't use one, skateboards are dangerous and I'd probably get hurt or killed on one. Why then, should anyone own such a dangerous thing? This type of thinking causes really bad laws to get passed.

Answer 4

Gun laws only affect the law-abiding. Criminals will get guns whether legal or not. Look at Britain. Before they banned pistols there was very little crime carried out with pistols. Now there are shootings on an almost daily basis. Those that owned pistols legally before the ban had to hand them in to be destroyed so these pistols owned by criminals are new and came in after the ban. Cocaine is illegal in most countries. Go to any street corner and you can buy it.

I own two pistols. One for target shooting and one for home defence. I am planning on getting a 3rd - to carry with me when I visit clients as some clients can be quite dangerous.

Answer 5

The old expression in the US is: "It's better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it."

Aside from weapons used for hunting and other so-called shooting sports, a gun is useful only as a tool to protect one's self or one's family from the oft-times deadly force used by those who are willing to hurt the innocent to further their own sociopathic ends. It's sad, but there exists in all societies an element that cares not about others.

They will harm you for no good reason or for no reason at all.

For this family, we will not go through this volatile environment without adequate protection against those who are evil or just plain "blind" to the sanctity of life.

I will not die or see my family harmed for lack of being able to shoot back....however highly improbable that circumstance may be.

Another old expression in the US: "If guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns!"

Answer 6

This is me, trying to be polite -
not as polite as yourself...after all, I'm American.
Big news a few weeks ago when some news-rag figured out that there were enough guns in the US to provide 7 out of 10
with a weapon...too vague to quantify statistically: did they
count museums and private collections as well as product on the shelf ? This may be as near to an answer as I can get.
Thank you.

Answer 7

I have a number of hand guns and I will NOT give them up, regardless of what those morons who want to take them away say... Gun control does NOT work against crime but it DOES work by dis-arming honest people so the government can ENSLAVE THEM...

Answer 8

I have two, both are kept in my home for home defense. Have no idea what percentage own a handgun, probably around 50% from what I see with my friends and famnily.

Answer 9

American gun owners do not worry about non-gun owners opinions very much because they do not have a chance at removing our guns from us.