Quote Originally Posted by gwahir View Post
I don't really think that gun ownership is the source of undesirable social values. I don't think that's true. I just think that they sort of promote it subconsciously. I don't have much reasoning for this, which is why, as I said, I mostly stay out of the gun debate these days.
But I know you're a reasonable person. If you think this, you must have SOME reason for it. Or is it just gut instinct and supposition?

Quote Originally Posted by gwahir
I suppose my basic, non-negotiable bottom line is that gun ownership should not be seen by anyone as a "good thing", but as a necessary evil. Guns are cool in video games, but in actual fact they are grotesque and their function horiffic. I'm not sure how that works into actual gun ownership laws.
It sounds like you talking not about "gun ownership" in general, but about the specific use of guns to kill someone in self-defense. I'd of course agree that killing someone is horrific (though I still hope I'd be able to do it if it was truly necessary, since the alternative is, to me, even more horrific), but surely that doesn't mean that guns and gun ownership in general are horrific? I know that you know that guns do have other functions besides killing people. Earlier in this thread, you mentioned that you're very sympathetic to hunting, for instance. And you even mentioned that you have considered getting a gun yourself; it seems unlikely that you would do so for the purpose of having a lethal weapon around in case you needed to kill someone, so I'm guessing that your consideration of gun ownership was motivated by some other use for the thing (hunting, sport shooting?).