It's been awhile since I checked in here on the Off Topic forum, but thought I'd add another 'two cents' to this subject. The only way weak people (non-weight-lifters, people over 60, etc.) can protect themselves against violence is by having, what some have called handguns, an 'equalizer'. In fact, to really equalize, they need to be concealable. If all you can carry is a shotgun or rifle, then you become a target. The criminal element would simply find a way to shoot you in the back, and distract you or sneak up on you, and give you a coup-de-gras with a club or knife. Criminals do not merely want your money, like some think, and will simply leave you alone if you agree to be deprived of your wallet or purse. There are daily examples in the news of violent crimes or maiming and killing against law abiding citizens who were unarmed and who offered no resistance. To think that police can be omnipresent and deliver one from a vicious assault is to be an ostrich with one's head in the sand. To also think that the solution is to ban all handguns is to also be naive. Criminals succeed by surprising their victims. Therefore, equal surprise is needed to defend against them. Thus, the need for an effective concealed weapon - a concealed handgun. Also, for law-abiding citizens, or their government to think that their are no conscientious citizens who can be trusted to use a handgun with discretion, and "send bullets flying" with no concern for innocent bystanders is to show no respect for the qualities good citizens to a community or country have demonstrated over time. Also, to require law-abiding citizens to go around like vulnerable sheep amongst packs of wolves is inhumane. In the U.S., the communities with the strongest anti-handgun laws are the same ones that suffer the highest violent crime rates, and also the greatest population loss from those cities, because decent, law-abiding citizens are afraid to live and have their families live in such crime-ridden environments. Washington, D.C. is a prime example, but you can consider Detroit, Baltimore and many other cities as examples of such flight from the cities to the suburbs. People who spend lots of dollars raising kids, buying homes and vehicles, don't want to see their lives or their investments destroyed by criminals. The right to defend oneself is simply the right to not be murdered. How can a society deprive law-abiding citizens of such a right and not have blood on their hands?