Someone always says it better than I can.

This, about being a gun "aficionado" these days. From The Ten Ring http://tenring.blogspot.com/
"It is very hard to be a gun aficionado in today’s world. Why? Well, let me be blunt. We are detested by many, many people in this country (more in the rest of the world). We are blamed for crime problems and every time some lunatic goes off on a rampage, well the bien pensant says it must be the gun culture.
This is a relatively new phenomenon.
When I was young, not all the long ago, I learned to shoot at scout camp, had cowboy style pop guns and no one had a second thought that this was wrong or improper. Today, it is almost tantamount to child abuse to teach a child to shoot and pop guns are as rare as hens teeth. An entire culture that was good and useful has been tossed on the dung heap of history and for what? Did we get a reduction in the amount and severity of crime?"