Christine...I sure hope you aren't a reporter because you are too biased for such a job. I haven't read all the post's yet, though I will, but my grandson needs me so I don't have time right now. Let me just say one thing to this...I bet Congresswoman Giffords doesn't feel like crime is down just now...nor the six people in Arizona, (and their families) who died as a result of a "real" nut job and wasn't that in a public place? Ummmm, yup! Bet if Meleanie had been there and shot the guy who shot Mrs Giffords she would have received a commendation. For those of you who think no one should carry a gun, well I respect your opinion. Problem is, criminals would never give up their guns so then where would we be? I know, I know, the police...right? Yeah, I knew you would say that. So in the spirit of remembering my daughter this very difficult day (Scott's birthday) I will coin one of Meleanie's favorite phrases. "When seconds count, the police are just minutes away" The children and I Love and Miss you Meleanie! Meleanie's Mom

Christine, this article is so biased I can only hope to shine some light through the holes in it to show some other mothers the truth. Where is the source of your assumptions? Ms Hains' husband was an armed probation officer who shot his. He was issued a gun. Whether or not he shot Ms Hains with it is not sure but even if she had never touched a gun in her life her husband still has access to a firearm through his employment. Pretty much every law-enforcement officer in this country is issued a firearm and seldom do you hear of them using it on their families and themselves. The gun, again, was not the problem, nor was it their "gun culture." The problem was a disturbed man, period. You said that mothers, role models, should not advocate instruments of death. If that's the case than I should never allow my child to go swimming or to ride in a car. Cars and swimming pools kill far more children every year than firearms do. According to the CDC reports for the year of 2007, out of all of the deaths of children from the ages of 1-9, motor vehicle accidents, drowning and even accidental poisonings all came in WAY over firearms accidents. Depending on which source you believe there are, on average, between 4.4 - 9 guns per household in America. Obviously some households have no firearms in them but that's a lot of firearms to go around. According to the 2009 census bureau there are proximately 307,006,550 Americans in this country. With an average of 2.59 Americans per household and using a medium 6.5 guns per household that means there are an estimated 770,479,759 guns in the US, MANY of which are carried daily by legal citizens. That is well over twice the amount guns per people. But yet, there were only 31,224 gun-related deaths in the US in 2007. That includes accidents, suicides (that make up over 50% of that total), homicides and legal police and self defense shootings. SOOOOO... 770,448,535 guns killed NO ONE in 2007 (assuming that only one gun was used per gun death). What constitutes an instrument of death? Is it just its intended purpose? What about the outcome of its use? Guns kill far, FAR less people than cars and swimming pools. Heck, hamburgers kill more people than guns as heart disease is still the #1 killer in America. You say guns were made to kill and that they are constant reminders of violence and rape and murder and death. If that’s the case than why aren’t they inciting more violence? The mathematical truth is that guns are not killing as many people as you would think if you expected guns to incite or promote violence and death. You say that people who carry guns are paranoid and scared. Again, where is your source other than your own biased assumptions? Have you seen any kind of psychological study of those who carry? Have you even talked to someone who carries and asked him or her about his or her reasoning? Most of the legal, gun-owning parents are careful to teach their children about responsibility, etc. And I would LOVE to see one single verifiable source that proves a single country that has banned guns has a lower crime rate than before guns were banned. And how in the world would carrying a gun have anything to do with control and not protection? Depending on what state you live in you probably interact with between 1-3 concealed carriers every day. The teller at your bank, the florist at the grocery store, the gardener at the local nursing home, the pastor of a church, could all be carrying guns and you would be none the wiser. They are normal, sane, every day people that you are attempting to call “paranoid.” Were is your evidence? The evidence that I have seen is that law-abiding concealed carriers are among the most calm, happy, stable and friendly people in the US. Eight out of ten of my personal friends carry guns. They range from doctors and scientists, mothers, fathers, soldiers, police officers, pastors, youth pastors, public servants, hotel clerks, store owners, etc. I would invite anyone who doubts our sanity to come to any of our get-togethers and see just how “normal” we are. I don’t care is someone decides to carry or not. That is an individual choice, but don’t try to judge mentality based on individual decisions and make blanket statements based on absolutely no facts.

Wow, I guess that we moms shouldn't carry knives, or even sharp fingernail files either, because they are "instruments of death". What is so wrong for a mom to want to be able to protect their kids? Why are guns so bad? You can put a gun on a table, and not touch it and it will NEVER kill anyone. Only when a person enters the equation does that gun become an unknown. If more people carried guns, there would be a lot less crime. Look at Washington DC and New York City. Both cities have made the possession of guns illegal, but both cities are the highest in the nation for violent crime. And the highest for gun crime. Why? Because if you make the possession of guns illegal, law abiding citizens obey. But criminals, being criminals don't obey and keep guns. So what happens is an imbalance of power, with the criminals having overwhelming power over citizens. So criminals can commit their crimes without having to worry about being shot. This argument is not academic either, it is exactly why hundreds of women are raped and murdered in D.C. and N.Y. . and yet I see comments like the above all of the time. Granted, there is not an overwhelming amount of crimes in soccer fields, but what about the parking lot, what about in the public bathroom at the soccer field? I wonder if the woman pictured may have been a rape victim at one time, perhaps carrying a gun is her way of feeling secure. You will enjoy your time up on your soapbox until when you step down for a potty break one day and something happens to you or a loved on and you feel helpless without a way to defend yourself. Then maybe it will be you pictured on the internet carrying a weapon. as far as "I just hope her kids learn to use their words, not their Glocks." comment, Try using your powerful words against a 6'5" rapist. I doubt your argument would be effective. sincerly- Mom of 7

No one should carry guns, just my opinion, but I'm not from the US so I may think differently to you all.