Don't let them off the Hook.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Guns fire bullets. Perhaps target shooting would qualify as a harmless activity...except people fuck up at shooting ranges too. Hunting? Hunters frequently shoot things other than what they are supposed to be aiming at.

I imagine now we'll get the 'self-defense' claim?

Not from me -- as noted above, I live out in the country and don't have an issue with criminals.

But, it should be noted that even Harvard's Hemenway, noted for his skepticism about defensive gun use, accepts the National Crime Victimization Survey data that guns are used defensively about 100,000 times a year.

According to CNS:

The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council released the results of their research through the CDC last month. Researchers compiled data from previous studies in order to guide future research on gun violence, noting that “almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year.”

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/cdc-...-deterrent

Like I said, that's not a motivator to own a gun for me, but it has certainly benefitted others, no matter whose numbers you accept. Even Hemenway's 100,000 defensive uses is significant.