i have to somewhat agree with spanky in his statement that criminals arent gonna screw with people as much if they dont know if you have a gun.

i also have to agree that completely free access to weapons is scary as hell....background checks are necessary for concealable weapons.

between my father and i, we have (i think) 7 shotguns and rifles.... 3 12 guages, 1 30-06, a few 22's.... we both hunt... neither one of us is a "toothless redneck" my dad is a white collar with his MBA, im a college student, we live in a fairly populated area, we just enjoy hunting.... so is it okay to come to our house, take away our guns, ban our right to enjoy this sport cuz some people cant behave themselves? i dont even want to get into the pros + cons of hunting, that is a discussion which many people from urban areas cant even begin to fathom...

i am 1 of 5 kids in my house, we always always had guns in the house but there were a couple things that kept our curiostity on a leash.... 1st, the fear of what happened if we got caught playing with dads guns..... 2nd, we knew if we wanted to see them, all we had to do was ask... so if we know we get in trouble for sneaking a peak when we can see them trouble free, why would we sneak the peak?

i think the key to keepin a gun away from a kid isnt keeping the gun out of the house, its teaching the kid about what happens when a gun is abused, allowing the kid to learn about guns, and when he/she is old enough, if he/she wants to learn to shoot, dont get in their way....

there is more to gun control than laws, self control and responsibility play a big role,too.