[BigV]

To others reading this thread:

I have not said I think anyone posting here is a gun-toting psycho, nor do I think it without saying it. I think dmg, for example, is cautious and conscientious. I believe the overwhelming majority of gun owners are. Were it otherwise, we'd have a lot more horror stories like the ones in the news recently.

Though dmg has withdrawn, I'd like to take the point he made, the one that is made by others all over the place "I'm more cautious with my gun" (paraphrasing). I honestly believe that's true, but it's true because any reasonable person understands that the presence of a gun makes any given situation more dangerous, therefore justifying more caution. Because of the steepness of the transition between threat and death with guns, reasonable people take extra care. That's a very good thing.

But because it is more dangerous with guns around, that extra caution should include PREcautions. There are many precautions possible. Training, locks, locked cases, strict attention are some examples. I should also include careful consideration of who gets access to guns. And I believe they should be restricted to cautious, conscientious people, like dmg. To attempt to say the presence of a gun makes things safer is just faulty. It isn't the gun that's the danger, right, it's the person. So it should be the person that is subject to much greater scrutiny, if safety truly is one's goal.

dmg, I'm happy to disagree with you, but I think we're not arguing the same point.