[clairity]

yes, the risks here are tricky to think about, which is why conversations like this are more fruitful than partisan or ideologically-driven ones.

while guns are force levers, they're not really 'levelers', as differences of skill and perception still abound, to more serious consequence. what they definitely are, are risk multipliers. it's unclear that they are effective deterrents (that is, reduces the overall risk of a situation) in the various cases commonly believed, because those situations are rare (how rare is debatable), and, as you point out, the research is difficult (hard to prove a negative).

also, force escalation as represented by (offensive or defensive) gun proliferation is generally anti-social. hypocritical hollywood (and other media) certainly add fuel to that fire needlessly. whereas guns for hunting, farming, sport (which in many cases is basically advanced training), and even anti-oppression (from tyrannical government) are not generally anti-social. as such, i generally support the latter but not the former.