I would like to flesh out this defence issue. Would you use a firearm to protect a family member? What of a violent home invasion by several brutal possibly drugged out blokes about to have thier way with your 16 yr old daughter?
You have a gun available which you can quietly access without them realising you are home.[I have a electronic gun safe which gives virtually instant access which is in my bedroom] Will you use it? As a father I would use it or I could never look my daughter in the eye or myself in the mirror again. Home invasions are becoming more and more common with kids being abducted or molested practicaly every week somewhere.
We can decide to defend our own lives or not, but it is harder if not impossible not to defend loved ones. A least it is or would be for me.
Incidentally it is not illegal to use a firearm for self defence,[ under justifyable conditions and circumstances] it is just not considered a genuine reason to buy one.