I was robbed a few weeks ago. My neighbors were robbed as well at the same and again last night. I mentioned this in a thread of mine over on the gaming side. Some folks ITT said I should consider arming myself.
Hell...it even crossed my mind for a moment too. But I won't. I refuse. I'm not going to live like that. Guns terrify me. Plus, here in New Jersey, it's pretty hard to get a gun, especially if the reason is self defense.
Also, is pointless. I can't find any statistics either way, but my gut feeling is that weapon ownership is ineffective for self-defense and is actually making America less safe, not safer like the NRA and their political cheerleaders and gun nuts want them to believe.
I mean, think about it, when people are robbed/assaulted is usually by surprise, even if they are carrying weapons on themselves, or have them easily accessible, they are just not going to be able to reach them. Criminals have easy access to weapons and ammunition and they will carry it (because they know their victims could be carrying them as well), which involves guns in basically every crime.
Why is the US police so trigger-happy? Because every fucking US citizen out there will be potentially armed with lethal weapons, so they know a shootout is very likely and if it happens they want to be ones that shoot first (because, duh, they don't want to die).
What is happening in the USA with gun ownership is utter madness.