I was always taught during my military training that if you draw up on someone.. you've got to be TOTALLY committed it to using it.
 
One shot.. one kill.
 
None of this wielding a weapon around in the hope its a deterrant.. if you are prepared to throw it around and draw against someone... use it.
 
As drew has quite rightly said.. having a weapon and being able to wave it around, doesnt make you a bigger or better man than the next guy.. in fact, ive got more respect for the man who can settle his disputes initially via verbal reasoning, and if violence IS needed... but use of his own hands.
		
		
	 
 
My Grandpa taught me how to shoot a 9mm pistol. The United States Coast Guard taught me how to fire a .45 automatic and an M16. I own a 20 gauge shotgun for killing Copperheads and Diamond Back Rattle snakes on my farm.
 
My Grandpa insisted that I recite a mantra whenever handling a firearm:
 
Never point a gun at a man unless you plan on shooting him.
 
Never shoot a man unless you plan on killing him.
 
As to the topic of this thread, and as a registered and active
 Demopussy, 

 I firmly support the United States Constitution:
 
	
	
		
		
			Amendment II: Right to bear arms
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, 
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
source: 
http://www.constitutionfacts.com/constitution/Bill_of_rights.htm
		 
		
	 
 
Where I'm personally conflicted, is where public safety/protection enters into the mix.
 
If the idea is to defend oneself against tyranny or invasion at the end of a gun, then why not take it to it's extreme logical conclusion; the Right to Bear nuclear arms.  If my Government or any foreign government has an arsenal greater than my own, how can I properly defend myself?
 
How about armor and kevlar piercing bullets?  How can law enforcement possibly be expected to keep the peace when they are out gunned by the populace?
 
How can anyone justify the need for RPG's for sport hunting?
 
Part of what helps me to get a grip on these questions is the fact that most of the hoopla is just that; hoopla.  
 
The National Rifle Association seeks only it's own existence, rather than to protect the Second Amendment.  That or they take the arguments to such an extreme that they're not based anywhere in reality, or on very small percentages that hardly reflects the reality on the street; Guns in Schools, Illegal possession from either minors or convicted felons.  To hear the NRA's defense even convicted felons who've committed crimes with a loaded weapons shouldn't be denied the "right to bear arms."  Bet you'll never hear that in any of their "promotional fundraising" materials.
 
The rest of it are really tactics of WAR.  
 
If someone is fearful of cutting someone off in traffic, or burglarizing another person's home because they might get their asses shot, if that makes this country a little saner, and perhaps less violent, so be it.
 
What are the doing in the U.K. right now?  Making it illegal to carry knives?  

  Forget about a gun!
 
But when it comes to day to day protection of the citizenry, I honestly don't feel comfortable with the idea that potential criminals can out gun local law enforcement.
 
A line must be drawn somewhere.
 
Is my right to bear arms being infringed upon by my Government by making it unlawful for me to be in posession of the instructions/materials to build a nuclear bomb?  Nuclear weapons are "armaments" aren't they?
 
So how far down the arms "food chain" do we go without "infringing" upon my right to bear an arm? 
 
 
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