People who use guns to harm others are really bad, a gun by it's self is rather neutral.
I have about 18 years of Martial Arts training under my belt, the last ten have seen me at a dojo three times a week, but if it came down to it I'd use a firearm to protect my life or the lives of those close to me before I risk injury or death in a physical attack.
Try living somewhere where the use of guns is cultural accepted and where safety is taught long before you are ever allowed to handle a weapon and you'll see my point of view. I've had basic safety yelled into my head so much that I swear I hear it in my sleep. "Safeties don't work. Treat every gun as if it were loaded at all times. Never point at something you don't want dead. Keep your finger off the trigger. Never shoot at a hard surface, or water. etc..."
There is nothing inherently unsafe about fire arms, it's all in who uses them and how.
Florida realized this some years ago and put in place a 10-20-life system. Possess a gun while committing a felony, that's ten years. Discharge the gun, that's twenty years. Shoot anyone (Injury or death), that's twenty-five to life. We also have the death sentence and not much of a problem putting murders away for life.
There are historic and legal reasons citizens of the United States are allowed to possess guns, although State laws in some areas do put additional restrictions on such things.
I own guns because I enjoy target shooting. I enjoy cleaning, maintaining and using something my great grandfather brought back from the war, where he risked his life to help people on a continent he'd never seen even after his brother died.
If you don't like guns, don't buy one. It's a great way to keep from accidentally shooting yourself.
I don't own any.
