Nobody needs to own a gun. NOBODY. [View all]

[Hugabear]

Let's look at some of the reasons often given as "reasons" why someone might say they "need" a gun.

1. Home defense. This is easily the WEAKEST of all possible arguments. If your gun is properly secured (unloaded, locked in a safe, with trigger lock) then how exactly are you going to have time to get to your gun? Add in the panic that many people would be feeling, you're going to be bumbling around trying to unlock your gun and load the ammo, during which time you could have been calling 911. The only way in which a gun would be effective for home defense would be to keep it loaded, unlocked, and within easy reach - which would then make it easy for anyone else (including children) to access the gun, and would also be illegal in most places.

2. Protection against a tyrannical government. This is laughable on its face. So your handgun or rifle is going to be effective against a government armed with fully automatic weapons, tanks, helicopters, artillery, fighter jets, etc? Even if you're one of these heavily armed militia groups living on a remote compound, how long do you really think you could hold out against a government bent on subjugation?

3. Hunting. Somehow, humans managed to hunt just fine for thousands of years before the invention of firearms.

4. Personal protection. There are other safer, non-lethal means of self-protection. Mace, pepper spray, stun guns, etc. By introducing a gun into the mix, you're escalating the situation into a lethal one. There's also a very good chance that your gun could be used against you. And if you're in an area there there might be dangerous wildlife, do you really think your handgun is going to be an effective form of protection against a charging mountain lion or grizzly bear?

5. Because I CAN. Ah, the good old "ME" argument, and what it usually boils down to. You don't really need a gun, but you want a gun. At least be honest about it.