However, that's a lot more to do with propaganda than anything else. I
grew up in England as a typical anti-gunner, then started shooting and
talking to shooters and realised that what I'd been taught was just
nonsense. One thing I liked about America was being able to go to a
friend's house and shoot beer-bottles in his garden, without the kind
of hideous paranoia we see in Europe; IMHO it's far more civilised.
As for gun-ownership I don't own any, but I do have an IPSC Practical
Pistol competition license and would be out shooting if the assholes
in the British government hadn't banned handguns while I was away. Of
course I might do a conversion course and get a semi-auto shotgun
instead; quite why the government considers this less 'dangerous' than
a handgun is beyond me.
Frankly I consider gun ownership one of the pillars of a free society,
and in the long-term I'll be moving somewhere where shooters aren't
treated like scum.
BTW, I was highly amused by a radio news report a few days ago that
the government are having a 'laser pointer amnesty' because people
have been using them to dazzle drivers; don't know if they've killed
anyone yet. Looks like British people can't be trusted with anything
these days.
Mark