Perhaps time to play my trump card. If I took hostages in a land where I knew that people regularly carried weapons - be they firearms; knives etc, or clubs - within the first moments of the seizure, I'd have made sure that everyone was disarmed. Easy enough to do when I'm holding a gun ready to fire in an instant, and my hostages are confused. How many bank robbers are killed in the USA within the bank by a civilian being held at gun point during the robbery?

The Americans, both young and old, are telling us that they accept the situation where ownership of any type of firearm is OK, and that a firearm should be used to fight fire with fire.
The British accept the ownership of firearms, with some degree of control, but don't advocate their use as a law enforcement tool.
The Australians accept ownership of firearms, with strict controls, and allow their use as a law enforcement tool under strict guidelines.
We haven't heard from Europeans, Africans or non-USA Americans.

Personally, I think firearms are sculptures in metal. They are the product of artists. I quite enjoy the rare occasions when I let off a few rounds from a borrowed rifle into a target pinned to a tree on my sister's farm. I might be tempted to go hunting for feral (non-native) animals like rabbits and pigs, or to cull plague numbers of kangaroos on cropland. I don't care to own a firearm myself because I live in a metropolitan area and needing to store it securely in a safe to comply with ownership laws is a hassle. I carried a handgun daily at work for nearly 30 years. In that time, I think I drew it only twice to provide precautionary cover for a fellow constable. I had to euthenise a few injured animals. The only times I discharged a firearm at a person was during approved training using paint ball markers.

OME