The United States has the most heavily armed civilian population in the First World; our homes contain enough firearms for every man, woman and child.

Why do so many Americans own guns? The main reason, according to surveys, is protection. Advocates argue that guns in the home both deter crime (criminals refrain from even trying to break in because they fear being shot by an armed citizen) and thwart it (an armed citizen can stop a crime in progress, preventing injury or theft).

The scientific evidence, however, provides little support for these arguments. Quite the opposite.

In terms of deterrence, a recent study found that states with higher levels of household gun ownership have higher levels of firearm crime and do not have lower levels of other types of crime.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0804-hemenway-defensive-gun-home-20150730-story.html

In 1969, I toted a gun around Vietnam. My fondest desire after coming home was to never carry a weapon again and, to this day, I haven’t.

Don’t get me wrong; I was glad to be armed back then because things got hairy once in a while. But there is no comparing a war zone like Vietnam (or Iraq or Afghanistan) to life in Fort Collins, or Denver or even the south side of Chicago.

Gun enthusiasts and the NRA would have you believe that today’s America is a scary place. Statistically, it’s not … for most citizens there’s little to be afraid of regarding gun violence. The argument that everyone should be armed to the teeth to protect person and property is simply a marketing ploy used to sell more guns.

Yes, terrible gun violence has occurred in 2015: the recent Lafayette, Louisiana, theater shooting spree; the Chattanooga Marine killings; the Charleston church massacre. Yet each one of these incidents can be explained by the shooter’s mindset … mental illness, lone-wolf terrorism, bigotry.

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/opinion/2015/08/03/soapbox-guns-problem-answer/31088053/

DENVER — The federal judge who presided over the Oklahoma City bombing trials wants information from the FBI before considering Terry Nichols’ request for guns seized from him 20 years ago.

Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch on Friday ordered federal authorities to report to him whether the FBI still has the guns.

Last month, Nichols asked Matsch to order the FBI to turn over guns agents seized from his Herington, Kansas, home soon after the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Nichols, serving life prison terms for helping Timothy McVeigh with the bombing, wants his guns turned over to either one of his two ex-wives or his sister. He did not identify the type of guns but said there were about 10 of them.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/federal-judge-wants-to-know-if-fbi-still-has-guns/article_185e587c-d4f1-5fb4-8da8-968b530177d1.html

A 22-year-old man was arrested in Wichita, Kansas after threatening to attack the local courthouse if he did not agree with the verdict in a recent murder trial, KAKE-TV reported.

Authorities said the suspect, Samuel A. McCrory, had been spotted toting an AR-15 assault rifle, a handgun and an ax around the city on several occasions in recent months in support of the state’s open-carry laws. A picture of him aired on KAKE also showed the suspect wearing a mask resembling the Guy Fawkes masks favored by the hacker activist group Anonymous, but police did not identify him as part of the group.

While police could not respond to residents’ complaints about McCrory’s past activities, they took note of him on Wednesday for online posts regarding the murder trial of Kyler Carriker, who was charged in the 2013 death Ronald Betts during a drug deal. Carriker was found not guilty on Thursday.

“Is it out of line to storm the courthouse if he’s found guilty?” the suspect wrote. He later added, “If we get a get a decent number of people to charge through the front doors and security, the police there will attack us. Often times [sic], the only way to defend yourself from a cop is to kill the cop which means using a rifle to penetrate the body armor.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/open-carry-nut-arrested-after-threatening-armed-attack-against-kansas-courthouse/

NEW YORK -- New York City may divest hundreds of millions of dollars from Walmart and other big-name stores that sell guns and ammunition less than two years after it yanked investments in the country's biggest gun manufacturers.

Trustees for the New York City Employees Retirement System, or NYCERS, one of the largest U.S. pension funds with more than 300,000 active members, passed a resolution this week to study the impact of selling its shares in major gun retailers, including Walmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Cabela's.

“Our nation is bleeding from gun violence, and we cannot and should not bolster the gun retailers whose weapons are used to kill and maim our citizens,” Public Advocate Letitia James, who introduced the resolution, said in a statement.

"Our public money must not be invested in companies that fundamentally undermine our public safety," James continued. "We need to study the potential consequences and risks of continuing to own equity and fixed income holdings in gun retailers, whose weapons and ammunition reach the streets, towns and cities across our country.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-york-walmart-divest-gun_55bbb7e5e4b0b23e3ce2aa03

FRANKFORT, Ky. – With a new legion of gun owners carrying concealed firearms in Kentucky, authorities are suspending or revoking gun permits at the highest number in years, according to the latest totals from state police.

Interest in Kentucky’s concealed-carry program reached a record peak in 2013, with authorities issuing more than 59,500 new licenses, a 117 percent increase over the previous year.

But with so many more gun owners authorized to carry, statutory actions against licenses are also on a sharp rise.

State police counted 1,339 instances when licenses were either suspended, revoked or subject to both in 2014. That’s a 125 percent increase over the previous year and the largest total since at least 2004.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/ky-legislature/2015/07/31/ky-authorities-suspending-revoking-gun-permits-highest-number-years/30944211/