Anyway, for me the point has never been, "crooks have guns, so we need 'em too."

The point for me is that guns in the right hands eliminate the "easy victim" factor that can encourage violent crime.

Look, again, if a 350 pound man wants to attack a 90 pound woman, he doesn't NEED a gun. But if SHE has one... or if the seed is planted in his mind there's a good chance she has one... well then, all of the sudden the prospect of attacking her becomes a little less juicy.

Likewise, three or four strong, young men don't NEED guns for a home invasion against a middle-aged accountant and his family. But if the family has one.. again, it make the prospect of them far less enticing.

Once again, I point to the atmosphere here where I live. We have, I'll bet, just as many people per capita who are the type who would think about trying to pull off, say, a car jacking.

But in Wyoming, you would be, to put it bluntly, fucking insane to try a car jacking, because odds are pretty good you would get your fucking head blown off -- because virtually EVERYBODY has guns and knows how to use them out here.

Again, whether the crooks have guns is irrelevant. Because they are usually the type of person to seek a victim WEAKER than they are.