"Bob" in New Zealand isn't allowed a handgun for self defense. You put 'self defence in your application (the police will read that as you are intending to use it on a human being - which is illegal in any country) for firearms and you will get denied a permit here.

I never said that guns create violence. People create violence and arming civilians causes more problems than it solves. Your Polynesian example proves what? That civilians should be armed constantly? Is that a world you want to live in? Perhaps you live in that world already. I don't know. See, I read that story and I wouldn't deduce that from it at all. I get the feeling you think that anti-gun stance is a sign of naivety. I think it's really thinking.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. No amount of persuasion on here could convince me that guns are a good idea.

I used my IF guns disappeared question because I'm trying figure out if people want guns because they love guns or because they really feel like they need them. I'm still not sure of your answer...

I really didn't know that 16 is the legal age in NZ for owning a gun. I'd want to get that changed, but since we don't shoot our classmates, I guess it doesn't matter so much. For now that is. Give us a decade we might catch up to the US. A lot of our laws apply for young people. I guess when you have a small population (4.5 million) you can afford to give your youth more responsibility? You can drive at age 15 here and sex is 18. There is nothing that is over 18 - you are an adult at this point in the eyes of the law.