OK, all Im gonna say is this. When was the last time you heard about some 5-year old kid finding his dad's automatic rifle and killing his friend with it on accident? How often do you hear about some crazy guy going on a rampage with an AK-47 because his wife left him? The truth is that more advanced, automatic rifles are not purchased by the average Joe. Only two people purchase them: collectors and professional criminals. When I say professional criminals, I mean the guys who spend a lot of time planning a bank heist or something within a group. There is absolutely nothing wrong with people owning automatic weapons. As I keep saying, why harm the rights of the collector because of a few hardened criminals who abuse their rights? As far as guns for self defense go, why the heck not? There is nothing wrong with a guy owning a pistol or rifle in case something happens. Actually, its a necessity up here in upstate NY. Im not talking about protection from people...Im talking about protecting from wild animals. My family owns several hundred acres of wooded area, where my dad and other family members and friends go to hunt. Now, I personally do not hunt, because I hate the idea of killing an animal, whether it be a deer or a squirrel (though I have no problem with eating any animal). However, even though I dont hunt, I still enjoy hiking up them, walking around, relaxing. And whenever I do go for a walk, I have to bring some kind of gun with me, because we have many dangerous animals up here. So yeah, even after I said this, I guess it all comes down to where we're from. Different areas of the world have different "gun cultures" with varying opinions of them. Up here in NY, guns are seen as a good and fun hobby, and the there are plenty of ranges (heck I even on the rifle team in high school). However, the reason that we have such strict (and ridiculous) laws is because NY is controlled by crazy liberal thought radiating out of NYC, which corrupts the rest of the state. Its insane how NYC is so politically powerful that that small island controls the entire state. Anywho, thats my two sense.