Why Do You Need a Gun in a Civilized Society in the 21st-Century?

What are they good for?

I live in Wyoming, so I was raised around guns, hunting, and the outdoors adventure type attitude. I know a lot of people who hunt. I know a lot of people who own guns, and every time I raise the question, why do you need them? They usually don’t have any reply other than they have a constitutional right to own them and someone will have to take them from their cold dead fingers if they want them. But that doesn’t answer my question, does it? Why do you need them?

For Protection?

I don’t own any guns. I have a German shepherd. I have some pepper spray for when I go out running just in case I run into an unruly dog. Of which, I have never had to use. And, I have video cameras on the front and back of my house, I put them there after someone lit our front porch swing on fire. I’m pretty sure it was the neighbor that threatened to shoot my son, with his handgun that he keeps near his bed, if he ever saw him in his back yard again. He apparently saw him at 3 am. My son has never been awake at 3 am. And, he doesn’t sleep walk. I sure hope that whoever was running through the neighbor's yard doesn’t do it again. My point is, I don’t need them for protection. Never have, never will, and I’ve lived in Seattle, Phoenix, and San Diego.

For Hunting? 

Sure, if it’s a 30-30 or something along that line, single shot, pump action. What do you hunt with an AK-47? We have a man here in Cheyenne that sits out in front of a nearby Starbucks with an assault rifle slung across his lap, just because he can. I’m not joking. In Wyoming, you are allowed to carry an unconcealed weapon anywhere you want. Well, except for schools, and other places that have a no-carry policy on their premises. Starbucks, apparently has a no carry policy, but refuses to make this person stop sitting on their patio with an assault rifle. I ask again, what purpose does an assault rifle serve in the middle of a city of 50,000 at a Starbucks? And I would also like to point out that I have never seen nor heard of anyone hunting deer, elk, bear, moose, or any other wildlife with a handgun. I ask again, what do you need assault rifles and handguns for?

Just because you can?

That’s the best reason I can come up with that would explain America’s love of guns. People own guns of all shapes and sizes just because they can. It’s America’s love of materialism. The more guns we have, the more we have. Sadly, did you know, according to the Mass ShootingTracker’s data, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are killed or wounded, there were 372 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2015, killing 475 and wounding 1,870? I won’t tell you how many of those killed were children. One child is too many! In the years 2001 through 2013, according to a CNN news article, 406,496 people have been killed by firearms in the US, whereas, during that same period 3380 people were killed by terrorism. This, of course, includes 9/11/2001 (2990 deaths). Granted 406,496 people is only about 1/10 of 1 percent of the population of the US, and more people were killed in automobile accidents in 2013 than were killed by guns, but it’s also 406,496 deaths that could have been prevented. The US has almost twice as many guns per capita as any other country in the world. There are 88.8 guns per 100 people in the US. Why do you need that many guns? Why do you need them at all? I’m not talking about whether you want them or whether it’s your right, or not, I’m simply asking why do you need them and why can’t we as a civilized nation in the 21st-century lead by example and just start saying no and refuse to own them? You really don’t need to own guns, you know? People are just killing people with them. Or haven't you noticed?