As an avid gun nut myself, I absolutely love and hate these arguments. Love them because people get very passionate about either side. Hate them because there is no right answer for either side, yet people insist that there is. Throw in a hefty helping of social biases, cultural differences, gun lobbying, human tragedies, and plenty of straight-up crazy, and you've got yourself one of the most difficult social issues of our time.
I am a huge gun nut, but I would gladly accept never being allowed to use a gun if it meant that everyone in our society could live in a greater standard of living than they do now.
In lieu of a 30 page doctoral thesis on the matter (don't doubt that I couldn't write it), I will say this: with or without guns, humanity chooses whether it lives by harmony or by violence; the issue at hand is purely one of individual action, social responsibility, and cultural maturity as we decide how much we are willing to work, risk, and sacrifice for a social ideal. Guns are not the issue, but they're simply the latest polarizing tool in the struggle for (or perhaps against) human nature.
