I have no problem with the 80% of gun owners who don't hunt. Sorry I ever brought up hunting. What else exactly to you do with guns anyway, other than for protection, which I heartily agree with. I don't have any problem with those who like and collect guns for ANY reason--target practise, just to look at and admire them. REALLY. I waited months for all these posts to accumulate before commenting that it seems Americans (I am also one) as a country are more fascinated with guns than most other places. I believe statistics prove that. I also believe that statistics show that gun deaths are way more numerous in the U.S. than in other places. I'm not even saying that's bad--I'm sure a lot of those people killed deserved it--again, having grown up in South Yonkers. Personally, I would find use for a gun if I were a hunter, or if I felt the need for protection. There are even places here in "peace loving" Canada where if I lived there I would consider a gun--our gun control laws be damned. Otherwise, they don't interest me.
side note: scuba gear can kill the shell collector himself, but most likely not another person....Unless the shell collector also carries a spear GUN. Which I also have no problem with, though I would think twice about diving among spearos.
Well, you answered most of your own question in regard to why American's own firearms other than for hunting - "collecting, protection, target practice, just to admire them..."
As for the hunting issue -
the relationship of gun ownership in regard to hunting has as much relevance as the relationship of scuba diving does to spear fishing
Why do American's own firearms - #1 answer is - because we can. Why? Because we have a constitution that provides for it in the 2nd amendment. There is no need for any other justification at all, trying to explain it via hunting, collecting, protection of whatever is irrelevant and really has no bearing, the bottom line is it is a constitutional right, end of story.
Why individually do American's own firearms? That's as personal as to why do some people own dogs while others own cats and others don't like pets at all... there are many personal reasons because firearm owners don't look at firearms as anything more unordinary than many other items, be them cars, a dog, a clock radio or anything else, it's just a firearm, it's a physical item that is as unordinary as any other ordinary item. Non-firearm owners who have problems with firearms don't understand that relationship, they are scared of firearms, scared of what nasty people can do with them. They have a very disjointed, unrealistic, very conflicted, very convoluted perception of firearms.
Why are American's 'fascinated' by firearms? We aren't, we have just had our rights to own them protected since 1791, while other 'civilized' countries around the world allowed their rights to disappear or didn't have them in the first place. With some 220 years of 'the right to bear arms' Americans have had a long, long time to grow a healthy relationship with firearms, while the rest of the world has had to live with their nanny governments taking this ability away from them.
