Legitimate reasons to own guns

Again, this debate comes down to which we should value more: the lives of the 30,000 people who die via gun-related violence every year [1], or the few who are able to use their gun as valid self-defense (or the entertainment one can get by shooting fake targets, a sport that can easily be done with a BB gun, or other things).1. HuntingThe existence of subsistence hunters doesn't make hunting a necessity nowadays anymore than the existence of homeless people makes dumpster-diving a necessity. Neither party is obligated to live such a life. I'd much rather subsistence hunters move to, or develop, a more urban community where hunting is as obsolete as it had been for hundreds of years for civilized folk than risk handing them weapons of violence they can use on other human beings if they so please."This also brings up yet another legitimate reason to own a gun. If you live in states where bear populations are large and or dense, you could own a handgun for protection if you are outside, and attacked by a bear."And again, I would rather one or two people be mauled by a bear annually than 30,000 people die via gun usage. Ultimately, the banning of guns will cause more good than harm."Switzerland Is armed to the teeth, but they have virtually no gun crime."Gun laws in Switzerland are unlike anything the common American is probably used to. Instead of a regular standing militia, separate from its citizens, Switzerland requires all able-bodied male citizens when they reach the age of majority to conscript. Therefore, because most of Switzerland's gun ownership is militia-based, which you excluded in the instigation, it is irrelevant to this debate. [2, 3]"In addition, people are on-occasion murdered with forks, according to your argument we should ban those too, despite their utility."Yeah, I guess that would make sense, assuming you completely misunderstand my arguments. I don't claim human malice or homicide itself will cease following the banning of guns. What I do claim is that the 30,000 annual deaths will likely decrease significantly. And while forks have a purpose other than inflicting harm (eating), a gun has no other purpose.2. Target Shooting"According to this argument, little league baseball should be banned because bats can be used to murder people."A gun is far, far, far, far, far more dangerous than a baseball bat. To clarify again, I do not advocate the banning of every thing that can conceivably be used to murder, but every thing that's purpose is primarily to injure or murder.3. Investment"antique rifles that are now simply pieces of history that pose no more danger to someone that a modern BB gun."Which is why I made that statement about owning a thing that looks like a gun but could not possibly fire a bullet. If an antique, American revolution gun is too old and deteriorated to fire a bullet, then I wouldn't classify that as a gun for the context of this debate, the significance of which should lie in the question of "Does the harm caused by gun violence outweigh the good, or vise versa" not "Does the harm caused by owning a decrepit, dysfunctional gun outweigh the good, or vise versa".4. Home DefenseI would rather the Face Eater murder ten people before being caught (or shot by a civilian) than allowing almost every civilian easy access to a murdering tool."There are several options for gun safes that offer quick retrieval of a firearm in an emergency."To have to go into your bedroom or closet and punch in a 4-digit combination to retrieve your firearm is more time-consuming than you and these products' advertisements make it out to be (of course the products' own advertisements would say it's quick). And what if someone knocked on your door, you opened it, and he already has a gun pointed at you?"how do you know they are unarmed? They could have a gun tucked into their waistband, ready to shoot you when you try to stop them unarmed."It's a hypothetical situation in which the intruder is assumed to not have a gun.Sources:[1] http://www.gunpolicy.org...[2] http://en.wikipedia.org...[3] http://en.wikipedia.org...