Reply #28: "There is a basic insecurity that compels people to own them."

[mcranor]

That's correct, I believe. And it sure pisses gun people off when you say it, so I'd say it's true enough to be discomforting.

I find these fantasies of 'standing over a dead rapist with a smoldering barrel' rather nauseating. Everybody knows that a gun in the house is far more likely to accidentally kill or maim an innocent than to successfully repel an attacker. The numbers are appalling.

This is not to say that owning a gun 'for protection' is never appropriate; only that pretending insecurity has nothing to do with it is rather dishonest.