-snippy snippy-
I... Can you provide sources for this information? As an avid gun collector who has spent years trying to find factual, moral justification for his hobby (and mostly failed), I would be exceptional interested in actual sources. Not to insult you or anything, but the vast majority of gun-positive hearsay I've fact-checked ended up being false or misrepresented, despite my biases, so I'm a tad mistrusting of your anecdotes. :\
Yes, can provide non-wikipedia sources for everything. I'll PM you later today to avoid cluttering this thread any more(also need to dig up some of the links, I'm not at home atm).
Mind you, I dont think that everyone needs or should have a gun either. I have a feeling that especially short guns / handguns carried and in hands of inexperienced people(= most, as many who get a gun in US for self defense never practice using it nor practice other means of self defense) have an overall negative safety/health effect, but I still believe everyone including the weak should have the right and means to defend themselves. My own rifles are for hunting, target shooting and SHTF situations, I dont carry, although carrying isnt legal here either.
I'm not sure why you need moral justification; guns are useful, shooting is fun and many have interesting history or technology. Same goes for, say, knives or swords, vehicles and so forth. As long as you handle them responsibly and dont let them fall in wrong hands, you're one of the good guys.