Welcome, Chris
Re: your concern about "untrained" gun owners: in addition the the point others made that almost all gun owners have had training, just not gov't certified training, I would add that there are, what, two guns for every man, woman and child in America according to some researchers. If ownership without official training were a real risk, our streets should be awash in blood. Yet the gun death rate overall, which includes deliberate killing as well as accidents and suicides, is consistently equal to or lower than automobile deaths....almost all of which are accidents.
I think your unease springs from the image projected by the media and the gun-control groups, that the mere presence of a gun means someone is going to get shot. It just isn't that way, and to clarify the picture you really should have someone you trust take you shooting. Even if you remain unconvinced after that, your opinion will at least be an informed one, which is sadly a rarity among gun control advocates.
I would add that most people naturally regard a gun with more respect and caution than an automobile, although you can only kill one person at a time with a gun while in a moment of carelessness or anger you can kill a whole bus-full with a car.
Re: your concern about "untrained" gun owners: in addition the the point others made that almost all gun owners have had training, just not gov't certified training, I would add that there are, what, two guns for every man, woman and child in America according to some researchers. If ownership without official training were a real risk, our streets should be awash in blood. Yet the gun death rate overall, which includes deliberate killing as well as accidents and suicides, is consistently equal to or lower than automobile deaths....almost all of which are accidents.
I think your unease springs from the image projected by the media and the gun-control groups, that the mere presence of a gun means someone is going to get shot. It just isn't that way, and to clarify the picture you really should have someone you trust take you shooting. Even if you remain unconvinced after that, your opinion will at least be an informed one, which is sadly a rarity among gun control advocates.
I would add that most people naturally regard a gun with more respect and caution than an automobile, although you can only kill one person at a time with a gun while in a moment of carelessness or anger you can kill a whole bus-full with a car.