[mheisig]

What a can of worms we've opened here.

Purchasing and using a firearm is a very personal decision and should not be taken lightly.

I grew up with guns, own a number of different firearms, and have received military and law enforcement training with respect to pistols and carbines. I, for one, am very confident in my ability to defend myself with a firearm. Not everyone is properly trained, however.

Too many people go out, buy a "nine" stick it in their dresser drawer and forget about it. That's about as smart as handing a 12 year old the keys to the car and hoping they teach themselves how to drive. Or about as smart as skydiving without proper instruction on how all your gear works, or flying a plan solo without ever cracking a book or taking a lesson.

What you have in your hand is a piece of highly engineered machinery which has the ability to take a life in an instant. Not to quote Spiderman too much, but that power must be in responsible, trained hands.

If you are going to get one, don't get it out of fear - that's a poor reason. Come to a rational conclusion about your needs, protection and environment and make an appropriate decision.

If that decision is to purchase a firearm, seek out as much knowledge, training and experience as you can possibly get. Typically the people who either wind up hurting themselves or others accidentally are idiots who never got the proper training and experience.

Furthermore, experience and training breeds knowledge and understanding. Everyone I've ever met who hated guns, wanted them banned altogether and wouldn't touch them, also had absolutely zero understanding of how they work and were completely ignorant as to proper operation and use.

I'll throw this last bit in to spark some debate (Woohoo!): as a former cop, having dealt with firearms from both ends, I fully support every U.S. citizen's (who's not a felon) right to legally own a firearm, provided they are properly trained. Having obviously spent plenty of time around hundreds of other cops enforcing the law on a daily basis, I can attest to having never met a cop who felt any differently than I did. In other words, the guys chasing down the criminals on a day to day basis WANT the general public to be armed.