Well, if you have all stopped judging and condemning my country of origin, I should like to clear up a few glaring misconceptions and half-truths:

1. It is STILL illegal to carry concealed weapons in most parts of the US. Of course there are some areas (Texas, etc) where carrying a handgun in a holster is still seen today and is legal. It is legale to carry a gun only with a permit whose acquisition requires a very good reason.

It was only in the late 60's that California changed its gun laws when a group of Black Panther political activists took advantage of the existing laws which allowed any citizen the right to carry a gun - they strode into the State assembly armed to the back-teeth.
Imagine the shocked white legislators' faces when they saw armed and militant black people actually within the state Capitol building. The law got changed so fast the head would have spun off.

2. The Constitutional right to bear arms stems from the oppressive British government requiring their colonists to pay taxes but not allowing them a voice in parliament. They were not assured this right merely to fight the war of independence. The Constitution was not written until after the war had ended. It was included because the new Americans abhorred the idea of being oppressed and prohibited from taking up arms to fight that oppression and decided that they would not banned the private citizen's right to bear arms.

3. One commenter above was correct in saying the modern American misinterprets this right, which is to say the right to form a militia in defence of life, limb and property, within which exists the right to bear arms.

4. One cannot in one breath promote the virtues of representative democracy and then whine in the next breath when it doesn't behave the way one likes. The NRA is a legal public organisation which lobbies government on firearm issues. They are entitled to hold whatever opinions they like and to speak about them whenever and wherever they like. You cannot assure freedom for all by denying that freedom for some.

5. My father was killed by his gun-toting, gang-banging stepson 15 years ago. He was in turn immediately shot and killed by my father's very distressed baby son. My father's new wife of only 3 months and his 11-year-old step-daughter were in the room at the time.

When I arrived as the mature older brother to take charge of funeral arrangements, I instantly requested the entire family gather together their guns so I could get rid of them. They all declined, saying if I had my way, "only the criminals would have the guns then." "And the Police, of course," I added. They were not impressed with my solution. I was not impressed by their refusal.

I do not own or approve of guns in my household. I refuse, however, in this era of arrogantly dictating how others should behave (example: fox hunting banned by city folk), to tell others what they should do. I can make suggestions, but I cannot and will not order anyone to do anything just because I think it is right.

Think on, and look sharp.

Thanks for reading

Consider: with the hundreds of millions of guns in circulation in the US, and with the general mental and emotional instability of its gun-owning citizens, we should see these sorts of shooting tragedies played out every hour of every day. Hmmm...but this is not happening? I wonder why.

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Count me in on the journey, don't expect me to stay.