James, reading that was certainly interesting and very applicable. To some extent you have actually changed my mind, believe it or not, although the current situation with guns is not a good one in my opinion. I can see that gun ownership in the right hands can save lives, but I still think they can sometimes be taken away unncecessarily.
Another thing I need to ask regarding the constitution. It states that everyone has the right to bare arms, but in what context? If memory serves me right then it is not as straight forward as that. Anyone care to elabourate?
Joe
well glad to see that logic, reason, and just plain common sense actually can reach through, even to a small degree, the idealized dogma that seems to seperate the schools of thought of our two continents. i would never suggest that you should carry a firearm.. just that it should be your individual choice to do so or to not. here in the US our country's constitution guarantees the right to bear arms and to maintain a well-armed militia. it leaves the individual rights to each state, and each states outlines it's own guidelines.
Florida allows licensed concealed carry and co-operates with something like 30 other states, so my CCL is good in all those states as well (i have the list filed away.... i refer to it when i travel). We also have a "castle law" here in Florida.... which basically allows me the right to defend my home and family with lethal force if i deem it necessary, given certain conditions. the intruder need not necessarily be armed, simply capable and likely to render bodily harm. Police here in Florida are progressive in admitting that they cannot gaurantee your safety on the streets, much less behind the gates and doors of your home.
all this probably makes it sound as though we live in a veritable war zone here in the US.... but the reality is far different, it's very peaceful where i live and in my entire life i've only had to pull a weapon once, the incident in 1990 that i already described in this thread... and i didn't even need to aim it.
still, there was a home invasion only 8 miles from my home last year, and the mall where i do all my shopping for clothes and music had a shooting incident not too long ago, gang related..... i'm sure you won't have to look very hard to find nearby scenes of violent crime in your own backyard, even in Germany.
the US has 300mil pop. while Germany has about 84-86 mil.... and on a per capita basis, comparing by each one million in pop. averaged, the US has 6 times the violent crime as Germany. we also have no socialized medicine and many other social issues that contribute to this. so yeah, we have a worse situation here, but neither you nor i will solve those issues today... so i will be keeping my guns. i would keep them anyway, to be quite honest, even if the US were on equal footing with Germany in terms of violent crime rates and social services. Anyway, as 26 pointed out, the situation in Germany is only likely to get worse, not better, sadly.
the good news for you is that to be forewarned is to be forearmed.... so vote your conscience on these issues when they are put to a vote in your country.... you may need to defend your loved ones one day... and i can't imagine a worse feeling of betrayal than the one you'd likely feel knowing that you were made powerless to defend your home and family by your own country's laws.
anyway, i'm getting over this thread, lol.... none of these issues are really a focus of my life, because my life is very peaceful and rarely touched by anything remotely violent. As for my stance on these issues in light of my actual circumstances..... as my ol' grandad used to say... "better safe than sorry".
Sorry, I won't follow.
Sry for my lame sarcasm! I TRY! BTW you probably have a really warped sense of what I look like because you probably stereotype horribly based on some of things you have said 
