> I am a strong believer in the right to have a gun in your own home and the various “Castle” laws. If you break into my house or try to take my car while I am in it, I am going to assume you mean me harm. Shoot first then call the cops.

Do you know how absurd this sounds to people in actual civilized countries? Kind of amazing how many of you Americans are living in some Wild West fantasy.

I would much rather live in a world with fewer guns. But, with the proliferation of guns in the US, what is the left suppose to do when confronted by an armed assailant in their own home? We are not going to get rid of guns in America. What other protection do you have?

4 in 10 Americans live in a gun owning household. That number is probably greater in the south.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/22/facts-about...

It’s probably even greater for someone willing to break into your house.

Guns in the US is a “gravity problem” no matter how much you complain about them, they aren’t going anywhere.

We live in a country where the far right is arming up and when the left wants to “peacefully protest” and exercise their first amendment (not saying it always ends up being peaceful), the far right is “exercising their 2nd amendment”.

Which side do you think is going to come out ahead?

Othering and belittling pours gas on an already polarized topic. If you can't talk about the issue without going there, then you aren't equipped to change minds. If the [keyboard] is mightier than the [gun], then one must show even more restraint in its employ.

Do the police in your country have guns? (Trick question. The police in every country, even Japan, have guns.)

If an armed attacker breaks into your home, would not the first thing you do be to call someone to bring a gun over quickly to protect you and bring an end to the risk?

This is no different than keeping a fire extinguisher in your home versus relying 100% on the fire brigade to protect you.

Firearms are safety equipment, nothing more. The fact that you equate a common tool, used in every civilization in the world, to “some wild west fantasy”, says more about the baggage you attach to it than that which exists in reality.

> Do the police in your country have guns? (Trick question. The police in every country, even Japan, have guns.)

No, please do your research

In the case of the US, if the criminals have guns and the law abiding people don’t, where does that leave the law abiding people?

It’s just like what happened when Reagan was the Governor of California. As soon as Black people started peacefully “exercising their second amendment rights”, both Reagan and the NRA were all for gun control.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulford_Act

Even now while the liberals are fighting for more gun control, conservatives are arming up - especially in the South.

The far right is getting armed while the far left is talking about “give peace a chance”.

I mean there is quite a number of countries where regular police are prohibited from carrying firearms, or at least don't carry them anywhere so casually.

I bet those same countries don’t have the love affair with gun ownership and easy access as the US.

That still comes back to the same question - if the criminals have guns and neither law abiding citizens or the police have guns, where does that leave the law abiding citizens?

> Firearms are safety equipment, nothing more.

The first half is at least arguably true, the second half is...not.