I am so glad that in reality I don't have to really think about the issue in this thread. Arming oneself with a firearm because of the fear of personal attack is not something that I even have to even consider living in North East Scotland. Here in the UK we do not even have a general armed police force. To have a generally armed police force in the UK is politically unacceptable. The contrast between the two countries over the issue of gun culture is astounding.

The tragic events at Virginia Tech University have again shown the completely unsolvable conundrum faced by the citizens of the United States of America. A wholesale ban on firearms is completely unacceptable politically and socially. There are just to many vested interests involved. The majority who have contributed to the thread have positively indicated that. The arguments for gun ownership without any real restrictions make perfect logical sense because of the situation the majority of US citizens find themselves in. To be allowed to defend ones self with a firearm because the assailant may also be armed is a reasonable and sensible conclusion. I myself also would have a difficult time trying to defend any idea, which is at odds to that logical conclusion.

In essence the 2nd amendment to the US constitution, the right to keep and bear arms, is now responsible for 20,000 - 30,000 of its own citizens freedoms and rights being fully extinguished every year - they have been killed as a direct consequence of that right. Lets call it the national collateral damage rate for the idea of a US citizen’s personal freedom. This figure is the equivalent of 8-10 9-11 terrorist attacks every year. Rather than trying to have a debate about the proposition put forward in this thread, surely a debate about why there is such a gun culture would be more relevant to solve the overall problem of death through gunshot wounding. I am sorry to say that there is no apparent solution to this issue and that the tragedy at Virginia Tech is ultimately just another little contribution to the overall national collateral damage figure for a US citizen’s personal freedom and liberty.