[FWB]

[quote="Wolf-Man":e3ec5]I don't have any intention of flaming anyone. All I'm saying is that Americans (those I know, not all, obviously) are brought up differently from Australians.

I'll see if I can choose the right words here...

Americans, guns = protection.
Australians, guns = aggression.[/quote:e3ec5]

I can see that, except for me a gun only has one purpose... to kill. That is what it is designed to do. It is an aggressive piece of equipment.

[quote:e3ec5]Americans, whether it be because of your civil war or something, and they way your constitution is, think its odd if you DON'T have guns. The right to bear arms and all that. [/quote:e3ec5]

This is the poorest excuse that one can use. It is 2002, there are no bears or native indians you need to shoot. Before hand weapons served a valuable purpose in a fledgling society. Those who bring up the constitution (and I might add basing your argument on a piece of paper whose other points don't even work in practise is rather poor thinking) need to get their minds out of the 19th century.

As for defending your house... most people end up getting shot by their own guns. The stats just don't support the idea that your property/family is safer with a weapon "guarding" it.