My family has always stressed gun safety and proper use of firearms. Since my father was a teenager, he has owned guns for hunting and range shooting. I had my first gun when I was born (a first birthday present from my father) and have grown up with guns. My sister and I have always been encouraged to be comfortable with using them for target shooting and hunting, and have been instructed to never use them against another human unless it is a dire situation.
My parents are now divorced, and my father lives in the mountains, half an hour away from the nearest sherriffs office, and half an hour from the nearest hospital. If you call the sheriff, it takes two hours for one of the two county deputies to report. We carry a pistol with us everywhere, because there are alot of strange people that live up there.
A couple months ago, we came home from a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon to find our house had been burglarized, and all of our rifles stolen. Good thing we still had our shotguns locked up in another gun safe...the sheriff took 3 hours to come investigate. In the mean time, we had to sit in that house, in the dark, and wait.
In cases like these, where people live out in the middle of no where, and law enforcement barely enforces, it is imperative for the people to carry guns to protect themselves and their homes. In addition to this, many people get through the year on game meat (deer, quail, pheasant, turkey, duck). These are the two examples in my life that I just thought I'd bring up. Sean_330 made some really good points
