>I have not handled a weapon since leaving the service and probably never will, but I'm a product of Queens, NY where almost no one hunts and the only people with weapons are cops and bad guys - so the opinion of someone from Queens about hunting and rifle ownership is about as valuable as the average Alaskan's opinion on surfing.
>I once had business dealings with some people in Wilkes Barre, Pa who shut their businesses for a week when the deer hunting season opened. That mystified us NY'ers.
>That's why these things should be decided locally.
>Queens should set its gun policies and Wilkes Barre should set its own.
>Washington should just be quiet.

You might be interested to know that NYC and surrounding area police officers have objected to harsher gun and ammo control proposals. They've openly cited cases where citizens used guns to protect themselves.

I don't care much for the posturing of the NRA, but there's a statement that DOES carry weight, that sometimes "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun". Owning a weapon is a tremendous responsibility that (very sadly) some take too lightly. The NRA should take some of their millions and buy up commercial time and get in the faces of the American public and remind them of the huge responsibility of owning weapons. Won't solve every problem but it would be a step in the right direction.