I'm a huge supporter of the right to bear arms. Due to the out-of-control crime here, it takes the police a long time to respond, so you need to be able to hold intruders off until they arrive. If it were up to me, at age 21, everyone of sound mind would be REQUIRED to own a gun and have it on his person when out and about (concealed carry would be nationwide).
If you couldn't afford one, a voucher would be issued to you to buy one.
We live between NYC and Philly, and lemme tell ya, it's bad in this region. We hear gunshots at night all the time, which is why I never go out at night. If you're not packing, you're dead meat.
Oh my! I could not live there. I love living here though. Rednecks galore, and they could not be nicer more upstanding people. Most of them anyway. We have lots of drugs though, mostly because these small towns think taking money from government is the cat's meow, so we have halfway houses up the wazoo for druggies just out of rehab. Addicts all over the place, meth labs here and there. Cops don't do a thing about those, I don't know why.
I've been learning to shoot, which is a lot of fun and I am so glad I know more now, but so far I have not bought a gun.
Thanks for the clarification.