"When Guns are Outlawed only Outlaws will have Guns!". A bumper sticker I saw first in the 1960's with an axiom that is timeless. Welcome to the party John!

That is so right,when guns are outlawed in chicago only gang bangers will have Guns!! so rigth, (jjstryder.

My gun kept me from getting a gang beating last year. I never even took it out of the holster. Just lifted my shirt, put my hand on the grip and said "Don't!". The punk with the softball sized rock that was coming after me wisely decided bringing a rock to a gun fight was a bad idea.

Fortunately, when I made the decision to carry a gun I committed to carrying everyday and everywhere. This incident reaffirmed this decision. A gun at home in the safe is useless.

I'm not paranoid, angry, macho, compensating for something or any of the other silly things people say about those who choose to carry a gun for protection. I am however, cautious and very observant of my surroundings at all times. Thugs love people that are too preoccupied to see them coming.

As is with most people who carry a gun, I avoid conflict and argument as much as I can. Its easier to just walk away if I can. But don't mistake this for my ability and willingness to defend myself and family. After all, it's why I carry a gun.

John

The sheer lack of common sense is what makes liberals so dangerous. And liberals are doing a 'Darwin' - criminals will naturally migrate to those whom are unarmed - liberals - thus slowly removing them from the gene pool.

I always liked John

The Republic of Rome banned the carrying of knives and swords in the City of Rome. Which saved one citizen, Senator Julius Caesar, right?

Etimates by the the Clinton Admistration are 1.5 million self defense uses by firearms in the USA every year. In the last 2 years Americans have gone on an unprecidented gun buying spree. Guess what violent crime is down in the USA. Whereas where you have England, an island where guns are for all praticality banned, the violent crime rate is upwards of 4 times of the USA.

John: Please get your facts straight before you make accusations. The NRA did NOT make ANY deal with Congress. They are OPPOSED to H.R.5175. Because they were exempted from the bill, it will likely fail. It will fail because the people that wanted this bill were aiming it at the NRA and now that the NRA is exempted the bill has lost its backing.

in DC "just 800 people have received permits"

And it's a pretty good bet that all of them are in one way or another connected to Capitol Hill - you know, what's good for me is bad for you!

I am a 68 year old male. You wonder why I carry a pistol? It's because a rifle will not fit under my jacket.

John,

The following excerpt from the Fifty Caliber Institute newsletter states the NRA position more clearly than I can and, indeed, more clearly than the NRA itself has.

To those who are claiming H.R. 5175 as an "NRA sell out": Simply put, there was no sell out. And to suggest that there was a "sell out" is to either deny the facts or not be aware of the facts.

On the contrary, NRA does not and will not actively support H.R. 5175, in any form.

Chris Cox and his staff have but one loyalty and that is to protect and defend the rights of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, and to position NRA so as to be an effective advocate for firearms freedom in America. Neither they nor NRA are allowed to be partisans or to tie NRA’s ability to successfully execute its mission to any other group, organization or cause. NRA is and remains a single issue organization - its Bylaws require absolute fealty to that principle.

Before you criticize NRA for understanding that this isn’t your grandpa’s checker game or even your college dean’s chess game, you need to thank them for treating this as an extremely complex exercise more akin to Mister Spock’s three dimensional chess. A chess game demanding a very sophisticated and highly intellectual approach to the very serious problem at hand. We ask you to examine the facts and watch what happens in Congress over the next several weeks and months. Don’t be fooled or misled. Wait until all of the facts are in; watch how NRA’s "Mister Spock" (Chris Cox) moves the various pieces on the political game board we call Congress; and understand that if NRA wins, all gun owners and all those who believe in the entire Bill of Rights - including the First Amendment, will ultimately win.

The stakes are high - nothing less than the ultimate survival of American freedom is at stake.

I carry a pistol because a Cop is too bulky and heavy...

Joe;

NRA has never said that that the support H.R.5175, but they have committed "NOT" to fight it if they are allowed exemption from its provisions. NRA has just become another political entity in bed with the other politicians.

Denny,

Please read what is written. NRA bylaws DO NOT ALLOW the NRA to fight against H.R.5175 if they are exempted. However, that very exemption has cost support for the bill from the most rabid NRA haters. Remember, the avowed purpose of the first bill (McCain-Feingold) was "to silence the NRA".

I'll be 60 this year. I carry a gun at all times when away from home. Why? It's becuase I'm too old to fight and too slow to run.

I'm an NRA Lifetime Member, and I'm disgusted by the deal they cut for special treatment on HR 5175! If this abomination passes, the NRA is solely responsible, in my opinion. Throwing all the others conservative rights groups under the bus in exchange for exemption is disgusting! I am ashamed of my organization.

Why do I carry a gun? Because a cop is too heavy. And because when seconds count, they are just minutes away.

Alone in my house one afternoon, I heard someone trying to open my front door. I stepped outside on my balcony quietly and said loudly......"I have a gun and I know how to use it." Guess what.....I didn't have to use it...they ran.

I carry- I am 76 tears old and considered prey by some, I do not intend to become prey to any thing or anyone.Daley is wrong and thats it, democraps seem to only repeat what has been proven to have been wrong for years. How do these people keep getting into office?

I would like someone to ask an anti-gun politician, "are the rather large police officers with you armed?" And why do 250 lb police officers investigating the rape of an unarmed 110 lb women carry firearms? And if guns are so dangerous why do police carry firearms? Also the hero of Chappaquiddic's car killed more people than all my guns.

John Stossel - you are awesome. Welcome to the world of common sense. It is too bad the liberal sheep refuse to engage their brains. Critical thinking skills are woefully lacking.

Outstanding article Sir!! I really hope that this case that is in the Supreme Court is has positave results for us gun owners. In my state, CA, they are now trying to make open carry without permit illegal. I am so sick of these politicians trying to forward their political careers by spreading bias lies. I truely can npot wait until Nov comes around. For me it can not come soon enough. I wish the mid terms were held in january of this year vice near the end. We need to get these biased fools out of office and replace them with someone that actually cares about this country vice there political careers. If you want to sit in the big chair then you need to make the tough decissions. One of which I wouldn't think would be that tough. That is the one that would lead to putting a stop to the garbage on our southern boarder. It is time to use the military and all their expertiese to end the incursions and deliberate attacks on out citizenry but cold. If you agree with that, then please send e-mails to your congressmen and senators and tell them your views and that you wont tolerate anything but a direct intervention at our southern boarder. I recently recieved an e mail that had a photo of an AZ BLM sign posted near I8 between gila bend and another city that stated a serious warning. In short it said that if you want to go off rodaing or explore you should do it north of I8. As the southern side has serious problems with drug smuggling, human trafficing and other B.S. as well as deliberate sniper attacks on our citizenry. For those that dont know, I8 is 90 miles north of the national boarder. You do the math. When exactily is it that we should actually defend our country and its citenery?

300+ million citizens plus 10 million "illegal Immigrants" equals some 310,000,000. Probably closer to 330,000,000.

divide 30,000 gun incidents per year by 310,000,000.

That equates to less than 1 in 100,000 deaths by firearms per year. How many people are killed per year in this country by lightening, automobile accidents, falls, etc. I'll take my chances that I won't accidentally shoot myself. How about you?

blaming guns for violence is like blaming spoons for making rosie o'donnell fat!

Good job, John!

Many salient comments posted here. I, too, am 60, constantly armed, and am proud to say that my 11-yr old daughter can load, fire, and consistantly hit the center-mass on standard targets, at 25 feet, with "her" Sig Mosquito, or my Walther P-22. I will be moving her up to 9mm, then .40 when she reaches 80-lbs, dripping wet. My family's safety comes FIRST, and wife and I consider ourselves competent, if not excellent, shots. She sleeps with a .40 XD on her bedpost; my .45 XD is on mine, next to the 12-guage Winchester riot gun. 3 big dogs and our friends Smith, Wesson, Sam Colt, and Bill Ruger, are "hanging around the house". Like FrontSight says, "Nothing inside worth dying for".

John, you forgot to mention the dirt bags that are killed by legal gun-toting citizens, while trying to perpetrate a crime.

Sure saves a lot of time & money for courts and jails.

I have only one complaint about this article. That is, the line about "Guns Kill 30,000 people a year" None of those guns fired themselves ! Some human, somewhere and somehow, caused those guns to fire ! It is like saying that a baseball bat killed 30,000 people. I have had some fully-loaded firearms ( a live round in the chamber ready to fire) within arms reach for over 50 years and none of them have ever fired themselves ! I am old and may not live to see the day when Americans have to defend themselves with firearms on a daily basis from marauding gangs of invaders, drug and human smugglers, murderers and rapists. ..........OOPS sorry, I forgot about the present-day goings on in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. I guess I did live that long after-all ! :-)

Thank You John Stossel, for having to guts to tell ABC to cram it and standing up for the Truth !

"An armed society is a polite society."

Robert A. Heinlein

DITTO TO DA DOG !!!