I answered, the answer is most people who carry guns dont see them as anything special. You have an expectation of a special answer where there is no call for one. The people who do have them (most of them anyway) think of them as just a thing that you can carry if you want.
Look at every single serious response here about any gun topic. The people who are pro gun are the people who dont think they are anything special. The outrage is more at being arbitrarily villainized for things that never have crossed their mind than anything else. The actual object is peripheral.
I suppose for many people who carry guns, it's because they grew up with them and really don't see them as anything special. The thing is, they are special. Almost 70% of the murders in the US involve guns. I don't think any other object you toss in your pocket before you leave your home carries that kind of weight.
The people who object to gun ownership are so stereotypical it hurts. They either dont trust themselves or dont trust other people. The actual wording of course varies but that is basically what it can be abstracted to. Through ignorance and unfamiliarity they also attach emotions and myths to pieces of machinery.
It is exactly like not understanding computers etc. It's the exact same reason little kids are afraid of toilets. I cant remember the exact word for it, it's part of developmental psychology. If you dont understand the individual components of a system you understand it as a whole, not the sum of it's parts. Fear of guns is an extreme version of that, that is reenforced by modern culture.
I simply don't trust other people with guns the same way I don't trust other people when I go out for a drive. I don't want to die and there are a lot of irresponsible people in this world out there driving cars or carrying guns or doing a plethora of other dangerous things that could impact me. I don't think that's ignorant, I don't think it has anything to do with fear, I think that's real. Little kids are afraid of toilets because they think they can get hurt by them, but then they learn that it's safe (in most cases
) and move on. People are afraid of guns partly because they are not educated, but partly because they know that they can get hurt or dead by them. I'm sure there are a few people around here who know someone who has died because of gun violence, it isn't that uncommon.
All that being said, I'm not opposed to well educated, responsible adults owning and carrying guns. It is our right and there are good reasons for it, although one of those good reasons doesn't really stand up since I seriously doubt we as a country could overtake our government/military with any amount of fire power we could muster up. Ultimately it comes down to freedom, and I'm all for it.
I just wish there were some way to determine who the responsible people are in this world. I also realize that most of these gun murders we have are by people who were probably not licensed to carry and obtained the guns through dishonest measures. I wish there were something we could do about this too, but as long as there are guns available to honest people there will be guns available to dishonest ones.
I personally do not want to own a gun. I don't want to shoot anyone. Lucky for me I've never been in a situation where I thought "Gee I wish I had a gun" and I doubt I ever will be. I hope I'm also never in a situation where I have to think "Gee I wish that person didn't have a gun", but I still doubt I'd wish I had one at that moment. You never know though. Sometime in my life I will probably take a gun safety class just so I know more about them. Maybe I can learn some Matrix style moves too so I can dodge bullets. That would be cool.