Reply #3: I hate that our society worships guns, but this is the sort of thing

[tblue37]

that makes me glad that people can have them if they know how to use them and to store them responsibly. My gripe with the gun lobby is the resistance to any sort of requirement for training an testing to ensure ability. We have to prove we know how to drive before we are permitted to drive a car. Sure, some people drive a car without a license or with a suspended license, but most people don't, and the laws that require us to have a license reduce the potential for car-related mayhem on the roads.

Similarly, if we required licensing for guns, I am quite sure that a lot of bad or careless people would still get and use guns even without a license, but in general, people would get the training they needed to use & store guns responsibly, and we would read about far fewer terrible accidents of the sort caused by someone not knowing how to use a gun properly or not realizing how one should be stored to preent tragedy when there is a child in the house.

I also think laws that strictly control assault weapons are wise, for the same reason that not everyone is allowed to hop into the cab of an 18-wheeler and drive down the street!