“Now, now I know none of us would do anything like that”
You are right. Most wouldn’t. Talk is cheap, and armchair bad-asses are numerous.
This whole idea has to be thought through rationally. A large number of guns owned doesn’t necessarily equate to increased security for you and your family. Any individual could have 200 guns in the home, but he/she will be able to effectively handle two at the most when the need arises. The rest are potentially just lying there waiting for the “bad guy” to pick up and use against their owner, or be converted into a big score after you are dead.
Think about it: are you seriously prepared mentally to kill another human being? I dare say most are not, and watching gangster movies or reruns of “Diehard” is not preparation. Have you actually seen a person killed? It’s not like the movies when you see it live. Are you, or can you become, hardened to not care about the person in front of you? Fear is an effective motive, but is not the same.
A good percentage of those 400 million firearms are in the hands of people who rarely practice, and some who know precious little about their proper use. They have merely bought a certain peace of mind, and the right to brag and be an internet tough guy.
Gun collectors are another story. I have bought and sold many old military arms over the years because I like them. Some collectors have dozens or hundreds of firearms, but they can hardly be considered in the statistics of the available arms for home defense.
“Think about it: are you seriously prepared mentally to kill another human being?”
If that person is trying to get in my house or is in my house, he is there to kill me and I won’t hesitate to kill him.
No person should buy a gun if he/she isn’t prepared to shoot in at a bad guy. Never pick up a gun if you aren’t prepared to shoot it. Hesitation will get you killes.