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You know RK I have never given your question a whole lot of thought but let me see. I grew up following WWII and my youth was associated with many WWII veterans. Guns were a popular topic in my youthful environment. I respected our veterans, the war was won with guns and the loss of many lives! Where do we think all these lugers came from? Our veterans were our heroes not sports players. In my youth sports was a game not a big money game. We were taught to respect our law enforcement people. We called them policemen, not cops. I still hate to see them called cops. I know there are dirty policemen but there are dirty everything else. I was in high school in the late 50"s, I was in ROTC. I was proud to be in ROTC, I respected my instructors greatly. Then the Vietnam War. We must remember to defend our nation what is the first thing we place in the hands of our soldiers. We teach people to kill people. I believe the Vietnam War years was a sad period of our military history. May we thank every veteran that served in that war. It was a disgrace for this nation the way our veterans were treated. It was such a routine war for a lot of the people back home. I can remember coming home from work during the Vietnam War and the news would report the dead count. It was such a routine thing and people at home just carried on like nothing was happening. I think sometime in the sixties ROTC was removed from the schools due to a lack of national support. Big mistake. I know this deviates from your question but it is part of my basis for liking guns. Guns in the hands of people is a power that represents our ability to protect ourselves againist intrusion and aggression. It is an individuals last line of defense. Hand fighting is a good thing but I am not a big man! The gun does tend to equalize things a bit. The gun is the most modern weapon to provide instant protection. There are other weapons like a baseball bat but you have to be close to use it effectively. A hammer or a hatchet works as well but requires more physical exertion. I respect any firearm I own, I know the power it holds and once the bullet leaves the barrel you can't bring it back. I have no desire to take a human life, life is to precious. Our decision to use a firearm to take a human life is one I hope none of us ever have to make except in time of war. So, I like guns because they are the basis of our national defense system. They represent our ability on an individual basis to have that last line of defense to protect ourselves. There are many more things I enjoy about guns like hunting, collecting and admiring the marvelous mechanical aspects of each and every one. My first rifle was given to me on Christmas when I was 12 years old. It is a J. C. Higgins single shot 22, I think it cost 6 dollars and I still have it in my gun cabinet. By the way it almost looks as new as the day it was purchased but it has been fired many times. And one other thing, I don't know of many things that hold their value like guns do over a period of time. They are not a bad investment, if you put your money into the right ones! I like guns just like I like ugly dogs! There just part of a true American. God Bless our troops in harms way! Our society consist of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Hopefully we are all the Good guys.