Mélusine:

> Anyway, I could take the sickle for my garden and easily kill someone with it !

A person could take a chopstick out of a Chinese restaurant and kill somebody with it.

Violence is more complex than people think. Sometimes violence is carried out by individuals (such as serial killers), sometimes by social groups (such as terrorists, armies, etc.) Sometimes violence is unjustified (such as a serial killer murdering an innocent person) and sometimes we justify it (for example, self-defense, or some higher ideological principle.)

Why do people buy guns?

- Hunting: in the past it may have been a necessity, in this day and age it is mostly as a "sport", something done for entertainment

- Fear: people don't feel safe, so they buy a gun for self-protection. Sometimes the fear is justified, sometimes it is psychological (paranoia)

- Violent tendencies: some people buy guns as a means to prove to themselves or others that they are tough. For example, military wannabes who wear camouflage and carry weapons, even though they are not in the military.

- Criminal intent: people buy guns with the express purpose of committing a crime

- Entertainment: some people buy guns as a toy, then they head off to the firing range on weekends to play with their toy. They will never hunt, or be in the military, or commit a crime. They are merely playing with a dangerous toy.

- Stupidity: some people buy a gun and they don't even know why. Then they are really surprised when somebody gets hurt with their gun.

- Psycopathy: some people buy guns because they enjoy killing others. Their predatory instincts lead them to kill other human beings.

Ther are others reasons for sure. Of all these I listed, I don't see much justification, except for self-defense.

Hunting might be a sport, but wouldn't going out to play baseball be better? There are cases where controlling the population of an animal might be necessary since its natural predators are gone, or the animal was introduced from elsewhere (such as rabbits and cats in Australia). Hunting as a sport might be thrilling and fun, until some "accident" happens (such as Dick Cheney shooting his friend, or some animal being hunted to extinction). I have a friend who killed his son in a hunting accident. After 30 years he is still a psychological mess. I suppose there is such as thing as responsible hunting. Still, there is plenty of beef in the supermarket!

Some people truly fear for their life. They are under threat from somebody else. Self-defense is justified, but only when the threat is true. If the fear is very general (such as fear that some day a criminal might come into my upper middle class neighborhood), then it is likely more paranoia than justified fear.

People who buy guns to show off, or to have a "cool toy" are just plain stupid. That is the kind of people who treat weapons without giving them the respect and responsibility they deserve.

Criminals and psycophaths belong behind bars. It is those people who ruin everything for everybody else.

Übergeek 바둑이: Harold Shipman was a doctor.. he used his position as a weapon .. trust allowed him to kill over 200.

Guns don't kill, but the ease of access along with the ease of use makes killing easier for those of the deposition to kill. Along with it being considered by some a 'macho' weapon leads to it being a weapon of choice.

.. If a country is to have guns.. fine. But let full registration and analysis to make sure your not going to kill rather than defend with it.

Mélusine: A broom can kill... The Chinese worked out diversity of weapon shape millennium ago.

A chef's iron??