[lliamander]

> Absolutely. Nowhere else in the civilized world do people rely on having a gun to "protect themselves or their family"

Of course you cannot rely on something you are not allowed to have in the first place. Those individuals are still vulnerable if they were presented with an imminent deadly force threat.

> Perhaps you need to look at why, in your society, there are so many "opportunities" for "defensive gun uses".

Of course! that's a very interesting subject in itself. The widespread ownership of guns is not itself the cause.