The point of private gun ownership in the US is the maintenance of the authority of the People to operate independent of government permission.

Personally I think the M16 has had its day, since our ability to surround five guys with 100 Marines who call in a $40 million aircraft to drop 500 lbs of explosives into his apartment building are numbered in the era of YouTube.

Also in places like Afghanistan you can't always get within 400 yards of the enemy, so there are Taliban with scars from American rifle fire who have a funny story of a slight burn they got one day...

I can piss further and tighter than I can sneeze, doesn't mean I wanna be in a gunfight holding my...you know

with the cost of things my first gun may be a black powder .44 from Cabelas

but for personal defense that and a bowie knife should do fine.  There's no lawful self defense situation where you have to shoot 40 times over 100 yards away...and if such a need should arise, I'll steal a .308 rifle

Whether you need 1 shot or 20, whether you can or can't could matter. Be prepared.

And, like I said to twosidedeath, don't pretend that nothing could ever change. It disturbs me that people excuse recklessness because it's America, it'll always be this way (lawful and orderly) forever. That's rather doubtful.

People have died already in the riots in Greece, and they haven't even cut enough to break even yet. Speak of the devil, our debt's exploding and, one way or another, things are going to change around here too.

I'm not speculating on how likely any amount of violence is in the near future, but it does happen, and being prepared can mean your life and others'.

other states should be like mass and outlaw tasers and mace

all women need to protect themselves in inner cities from rape are whistles.  we all know rapists are scared by loud noises

thats not always possible and well lit paths in newark, new jersey or detroit, michigan or some other notorious dangerous city is not going to help you

Try not to live in America?

Seems like a good solution to me.

i carry a razor sharp folding knife everywhere I go

have done since college

because on my campus a guy got thrown down and handcuffed to a fence and raped

so I'm prepared to cut my own throat

come to think that was UC Riverside, where that Aurora shooter got his degree

also Riverside Community College down the street was the site of the first kill by the Zodiac killer

decades apart of course

but a clear tradition

maybe we're situated on a portal to Hell

would explain a lot

"twosidedeath death believes that civilization will always exist as it does now. He believes that no government will ever fall again. He believes that no government will ever oppress its people and enslave them again--as they have even in western nations, even in recent history, even in democratic states.

And then there's the fact that governments aren't eternal. They're not all-powerful even when they're around. They cannot and make no attempt to protect you from all harm. And when yours fails you, if you can't protect yourself and your family, they're going to get robbed, raped, murdered, and worse.

Some of us take our lives and the lives of our loved ones very seriously. And we're capable of protecting them. We don't like it when others try to force their incompetence upon us. That others lack the will and capacity to protect themselves and their own is a pretty poor reason for stripping us of our right to protect ours."

honestly what the hell is this. at this point i would like to start name calling because this is rediculous that you think you have any idea what i believe. what kind of ignorance do you have to think that no government will fall when we as americans are at war and contantly reforming countries at our will? an economic collapse would immediately result in a collapse of a government. but would we all die or revert to a stone age? no the EU didnt result in this, it was simply a shift of power and laws. life went on.

but what YOU need to do is learn to stay on a topic and actually debate something instead of creating a simpler topic that you can handle. there is NO need for any kind of automatic guns, a pistol WILL kill someone and keep you safe. try to come back to reality sometime soon