>>9
The defense against tyranny stuff is just weird, like something out of a comic book.. You know what's a fine example of a well-armed populace? Baghdad. Anyway, let's discuss numbers instead.
In 1999 the US had a murder rate of 4.55 out of 100,000. For England and Wales that number was 1.45.
There were 12,658 murders recorded in the US in 1999 and firearms were used in 65% of the cases. England and Wales had 766 murders in 1999 and firearms were used in 8% of the cases.
And that's England, a cesspool of violence and depravity. Compare the US to more civilized countries with low gun ownership, like Sweden or Japan, and you'll see an even clearer pattern.
Don't get me wrong, there are good arguments for lax gun laws. The inalienable freedom of the individual, for one. Hell, if you'd simply said "I want guns because I like them" I'd be able to respect you. But this talk about how more guns lead to less violent crime is just nonsense, it's just not true.
Numbers from:
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/crime_cicp_survey_seventh.html