Self-defense has never at issue. What is is that unrestrained gun ownership leads to proliferation, which leads to all kinds of weapons being made available in huge numbers to the criminal element, which leads to more fear. It's a downward spiral that leads to disaster. Your fear only makes you less safe and more fearful. Shooting has become the default position, even when the fear is only due to perception with no basis in fact. Then when more guns are in society, with minimal restriction on who gets them, more and more unstable, untrained people have access to them, also with disastrous consequences. Minimally restricted access to firearms is never a good idea, especially in a paranoid society of wannabe cowboys.
I have been around some of thase people who decided it was "fun" to shoot up everything in sight. I've known several "dealers" with federal licenses only so they could sell full-auto weapons, grenades, LAWS rockets, mini guns and 50-cals out of their trunks in the parking lot of a construction site (usually on night shifts). I've known some who bought every weapon they could lay their hands on from private owners just so they could smuggle them across the border to Mexican drug lords. I haven't lived the sheltered life; you have. Your resistance to regulation makes the majority of violent crime possible.
The vast majority of Americans calling for tighter regulation and restriction of firearm sales do not want to deny the sensible, trained adult the ability to defend their home or keep them from hunting game. But nobody needs an assault rifle with a fifty-round mag for either of those ends. Nobody needs 20,30,50 or more firearms to protect their family. In fact it's some of the craziest, most dangerous and unstable people in our society that have those weapons in those numbers.
And who is behind most of the second-amendment hype? The arms manufacturers, and the NRA that is primarily funded by them as their lobbying arm. And what have they turned you into? Both their consumer and their unpaid salesman.
And on a side note
The truth is that my old buddy, a Viet Nam vet Airborne Ranger, and I used to hunt with single-shot 12-gauge shotguns. On hunting outings we both were known for not missing, while the others typically emptied their autos and pumps with poor results. Essentially what this says is that the greater the capacity firearms only give you a false sense of security. Nothing replaces training, accuracy and a calm demeanor. I don't trust those who depend on the weapon to make up for their inadequacy. They tend to be sloppy and dangerous.
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