Why would a high school have an indoor rifle range?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

62. See, with your analogy.....

...you're talking about having a healthy respect for the dangers of alcohol abuse. Dangers need to be feared. Dangers would not exist but for the concept of fear. So yes, you do have a fear of the dangers of alcohol abuse, and it is a rational, well-founded and healthy fear. Otherwise you would be drinking recklessly and putting yourself (and possibly others) in peril, which I assume you are not. (And good for you on that, may I add.)

That doesn't mean you have a fear of alcohol itself, or that you can't respect alcohol itself. That's a totally different question. I too do not fear alcohol itself, and in fact have a certain degree of respect for it. Many--if not most--people do.

As for my point regarding irrational fear and gun ownership, I would posit that a large amount of gun owners in this country do not actually need their gun, and that the reasons that they bought those weapons is based out of irrational fear.

Just take, for example, the huge amount of people who after Sandy Hook Elementary went out and started buying AR-15s, and started stockpiling vast amounts of ammunition. Now, after December 14, 2012, did the chances of being a victim of a violent home invasion magically skyrocket to where one would need not only a gun, but a high capacity AR-15 to defend one's self?

Of course not. People bought AR-15s after Sandy Hook because they feared they might not be able to buy them later. Which is circular logic and totally unrelated to the actual necessity of having the weapon itself. That they did so in the shadow of a horrific tragedy involving such a weapon just adds to their paranoia and lack of rationality.

Note, I am not advocating for a blanket prohibition on private gun ownership, nor have I ever advocated for such a blanket prohibition. However, I do think a lot of unnecessary deaths in this country would be avoided if people stopped to ask themselves a simple question: "Do I really need this gun? Are the perceived dangers that form the basis of my decision to buy this gun outweighed by the risks of what might happen by my possession of it?"

If people stopped to ask themselves that question, and honestly answer it, I truly believe we'd see a lot less gun violence in this country. And you wouldn't even need to pass any laws to do it.

Unfortunately, people don't ask themselves that question. They convince themselves into thinking something is a necessity even when it probably isn't.