Well I'm coming to this discussion late but I've read the earlier notes so hopefully I will not repeat too much.
Myth: Firearms are not good for self-defence:
Fact: Fireams are used by regular people to prevent crimes as much as twice as often as they are used to commit crimes.
Myth: If you carry a gun it is most likely to be used against you.
Fact: If you do not carry a gun and you do not resist at all or you resist with fists you are much more likely to be hurt and hurt badly than if you use a gun.
Several countries have more guns per capita than the US and have lower crime rates. Switzerland comes to mind first. And there most homes have machine guns. Not most homes that have guns. Most homes period. In fact the government there sells ammo cheap and people can buy surplus tanks and artillary (fully operational).
Crimes of violence (rape, assault) are more common in Brittan than in the US. Most burglaries in the UK happen when people are home. Very few burglaries in the US happen when people are home. US crooks worry about getting shot. Crooks in the UK don't have that to wory about. I don't know about you but if someone is going to break into my house I would rather not be there.
BTW look up your local state Constitution and see what it says about the right to keep arms. In New Hampshire it says "all persons have the right to keep and baer arms in defence of themselves, their families, their propertyand the state." Sounds pretty clear to me.
And it's not that old either. That amendment is article 2-A and took effect in 1982. I voted for it myself.
Accidental deaths are way down in the US over the last 40 years. The reason? A group called the NRA has been doing a lot of training. BYW not only is the rate of gun accidents down the total number of them is down. And this is will an increase in both population and the number of privately owned guns.
NRA also trains more police officers every year than any other organization.
Someone talked about an NRA meeting 10 days after Columbine. Did anyone tell you that it was planned several years in advance? It was the regular annual meeting of the NRA. Not having that meeting would have been like not having the FIRST Championship because someone had been killed by a robot.
BTW tobacco and alcahol both kill on average 5 to 7 times as many Americans every year than guns. Personally I think we need to do more about them than guns. Not an outright ban (we've seen how badly thta works) but some common sense restrictions. [Gee, where have I heard that term before? :-) ]