Originally Posted by frost

If you're close enough, not only could you kill me, you would be able to walk away without anyone knowing.

A couple quotes for fun:

"Americans [have] the right and advantage of being armed - unlike citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."
-James Madison

"Germans who wish to use firearms should join the SS or the SA -- ordinary citizens don't need guns, as their having guns doesn't serve the state."
-Heinrich Himmler

"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom."
-John F. Kennedy