Rolling back quite a few posts, to the comment about the indians...

I think that if the indian's were as well-armed as the American settlers,
they would have been able to put up a pretty good fight, and using better
tactics, could have waged a pretty brutal resistance, and gotten a better
deal. The idea of non-violence just ended up with them slaughtered,
and stuck in reservations. Same with the Jews. If they went along with
the Nazis, and went to the camps, they died. If they ran, and fought,
they may have lived or escaped.

And regarding the banning of guns, they just released a study showing
that Scottland is one of the most violent places to live. And what is the
most common weapon to be killed by, or injured by? A knife. Because
they banned guns in the UK a long time ago. But people still get drunk
and fight each other. It's about culture. There are countries in
Scandanavia where every person over the age of 18 has to spend
one year in the army, learning how to fight, etc... When they are done
with their training, they are required to take home their uniform,
*and* their fully automatic assault rifle. So every person in the
country has an assault weapon. But because they are not a violent
society, they do not go around blasting each other.

I'm not saying guns are good. I'm not saying violence is good.
But given the situation of violence in America, and the level
of crime, I would be an idiot to be unarmed. Things like New Orleans,
and the LA riots, are just a good reminder that it is smart to be armed,
so when we have a really big earthquake, or terrorist attack, or whatever,
I do not want to be a victim of random violence. And so I respect the
2nd amendment, because I think it's a good thing for law-abiding
citizens to be able to be able to defend themselves...

And I also agree that if we legalized drugs, and let people do what
they want to do, it would free up massive amounts of room in prisons.
And in those prisons, is where we would stick anyone who uses a gun
in a violent way, or commits a violent crime, like ****, robbery, murder,
assault, etc... I think a hardline stance against violence, would really
make this a lot better society.