I'm for more CCW, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's some sort of a Laffer curve in there--that is, an optimum weapons density for civil order. In Palestine, or in Iraq, or Afghanistan, the populace and the nuts are heavily armed, and very effective weapons -- e.g., RPGs and explosives are all too easy to find. On the other hand, here in the USA, the criminal element is well-armed while the government often tries hard to keep the law-abiding populace from protecting itself. And, in the UK and Australia -- fageddabout it. Just a thought.
There's also the Singapore solution. Any use of firearms is treated extremely harshly, as are many other offenses. That works until the government itself turns on you.
Any use of firearms is treated extremely harshly, as are many other offenses. That works until the government itself turns on you. And the odds that that will happen are pretty good. In the last 100 years, many, many more civilians were killed by their own governments than by criminals or even as combatants in wartime. "It is a mistake a free people get to make only once" according to a dissenting judge from the Ninth Circus.