[suebee]

I've gotta say that guns don't even come into mind when I think about home security. It's more like: "I wonder where the key to my front door is?" No - seriously! Four dogs in the house somebody'd have to be a FOOL to come in! And never mind the parrots! I have a baseball bat next to the front door, but that's more in case of a four-legged kind of intruder. The thieves that got some of my chickens Saturday night - we joked that if I'd run out totally nekkid that it would probably be more deadly than anything else I could have done to them! lol

Gun control laws are pretty strict here in Canada, and I'm just fine with that. Living on the border I see a story nearly every week of an American who tries to cross into Canada without declaring a hand gun. I live in a reasonably safe part of the world, and am not really able physically to engage in hand-to-hand. So I rely on deterrence: I make sure the yard is well-lighted, have a phone handy, know my neighbours' phone numbers off by heart, and have my car alarm button by the bed in case of emergency. My neighbours know that that's the sign that something's wrong. There may come a time when I need something more than that and don't have it - I hope not. But I'm living my values. I believe the availability of hand guns serves to encourage a climate of violence. I'm not saying you don't have the right to protect yourself according to the laws of YOUR land. Just that I'm quite happy to live where I do and in the type of climate we have here.

Sue