Guns

"Black guns" (aka paramilitary/assault weapons) have been getting most of the press lately, but the real killers in this USofA are hand guns.  Lots of people have them.  Most of the people they kill are suicides, and, hence, don't catch a lot of attention.  If you're not especially important, blowing your brains out will bring very little publicity.

There are three reasons to own a hand gun.  One, of course, is for criminal activity.  Hand guns are excellent tools for gang assassinations, convenience store stick-ups, and such like.  Another, as noted above, is self-annihilation — although that probably was not the original motive for buying the damned thing.

The third reason to own a hand gun is fear.  FDR thought all of us ought to enjoy "freedom from fear," but that never happened.  What if that other comes to my house, and wants to kill me.  Shouldn't I be prepared to blow him (possibly her) away?

Me, I'm not afraid.  The worst that might happen, unlikely as it seems, is that I get killed by somebody who thinks that my household "wealth" is worth a murder.  That somebody, for sure, is a total asshole.

Personally, I don't see any reason for hand guns to be legal.  Frankly, I'm not especially agitated about assault weapons.  If you want to plink at paper targets with a hand weapon, a pellet gun ought to do the trick.  Those beebees  will penetrate the paper every bit as well as as a much more expensive bullet.  A shotgun will discourage your home invader a whole lot better than your Glock will.

I'm tired of fear.  It's time for freedom from fear.  Screw the "assault rifles."  Let's get rid of hand guns.  All of them.