@FvckY0u Your "tiny little box" is only meaningful to you.

@FvckY0u If that is obvious to you, why would you think anyone was interested?

I've got a friend doing 20 years for nearly killing his roommate by shooting him in the head with a gun, just for leaving crumbs in the kitchen. Had he not had a gun handy, maybe he would have confronted him more personally, more close up, which would have put it in a somewhat more fair fight, and likely wouldn't have landed him in prison. He lost his girlfriend, home, truck, motorcycle and his dog. Not sure why having guns was so important to him. They weren't for hunting. They were for "protection" I guess from crumbs on the counter.

@Julie808 People who own guns can own them for various reasons, and aside from hunting or protection there are also gun collectors and those who participate in the sport of target shooting, the latter of which I would fall under that category being I am not a hunter nor do I exclusively need a gun for protection or even collect them.

As for your claim regarding your friend who nearly killed his roommate over what amounted to a trivial issue, I'm skeptical that he would have fought fairer had there not been a gun around as when people get that intense with anger they generally act out violently in some way, and it's certainly within the realm of possibility that he could have used whatever else was laying around like say a big santoku knife, in which the end result could have been far more gruesome and even end in murder. At close range with a bladed weapon, one is not as likely to miss dealing a fatal blow as easily as could with a gun from a distance, and unlike in the movie depictions it's not always as easy as it seems to hit a target with a bullet from a distance, even a relatively short distance.

It sounds like your friend should have gotten help for his obvious anger issues, spend some time in therapy sessions. That's more or less an example of a social-based issue, someone who had a psychological/emotional hangup, but that time there just so happened to be a firearm present, and each year thousands of people are murdered with many other types of weapons like clubs, knives, crowbars etc. A shame something like that happened, he really should have gotten help if he was that prone to sudden and intense anger episodes. That's hardly the gun's fault though, as that happened to be the weapon that was the most handy at that time, so that's what got used.

So not sure what his reasons for owning a gun were, but not all gun owners own them for protection or hunting.

@FvckY0u I'd like to think there is something else we could do to curb needless violence, and I have an idea that would not include either more redundant gun control laws or adding more guns to the equation. I say that as we don't need more laws when the current laws in place are totally being ignored or not being enforced, as such laws are merely putting a band-aid on the problem, as the direct problem with violent-prone individuals would still persist even if somehow they managed to remove all of the privately owned guns out of society. Likewise, adding "more guns" is also merely a temporary fix, because even if we are able to arm every citizen who wants to own a gun for protection, once again the direct problem with random acts of violence would still exist and continue to plague society.

My idea is two fold. First, we need a drastic improvement in the public education system, which has become riddled with uncaring teachers who are all too willing to just let kids fail along with a fractured curriculum that is lacking certain courses that would surely help children become safer and more productive future adults. For one, schools nowadays certainly don't teach gun safety courses like they used to decades ago, and not surprisingly decades ago mass shooting incidents were unheard of. I don't think that's a coincidence, and it's a small wonder why so many depressed young people just want to take a gun and go on a rampage, they were never taught to respect firearms and the safety protocol that goes along with being a gun owner. Children receiving a proper education is critical to the future of the country and how things are handled. The number of high school dropouts these days is appalling, and no child under the age of eighteen should be allowed to simply drop out if the going gets tough. What kind of message does that send to kids when the adults in their world suggest it's perfectly fine to drop out of school and everything will just fall into place just fine regardless? What a disservice that is to our youths, a subtle message that giving up is okay, and that somehow you'll still get rewarded in life. Secondly, there needs to be a drastic overhaul where mental health services are concerned. There's a staggering number of fellow Americans out there who are walking around in a deep state of depression along with dealing with varying addictions, and an overall feeling of hopelessness due to such. Again, small wonder why some conclude they've nothing more to live for and decide to go on a killing rampage and drag other innocent people down with them. We need to make things easier for everyone to receive decent mental health services, and speak up if we observe others around us who aren't acting in a rational manner. It's never a good idea to ignore that sort of thing.

So that's my idea for helping to improve things in society, that of which would not include more needless laws or adding more guns in society. Deep down inside though, given how divided our country has become with the two political extremes constantly at each other's throats, I know the chances are slim any of that will happen anytime in the foreseeable future, personal agendas would surely get in the way. So that's pretty much just wishful thinking on my part, but who knows maybe some day soon people will learn to set aside their differences and work together (like we once did decades ago) for the common good, and turn away from identity politics? I'm cautiously optimistic on that much though.