I'm convinced the town I work in is full of crazy people.

[kandrathe]

Please also think a bit instead of only placing links and statistics.

My thinking is informed by research.

First, what do you (or your link) consider murder? Someone killed during a burglary will be manslaughter, not murder.

If you brought a gun, or a knife to a robbery and someone is killed, then it is a murder. The lethal weapon implies the intent to kill. Manslaughter has variations of voluntary, or involuntary, but it is when a person is unintentionally killed by another. Like, if a person if punched, falls and hits their head fatally. Or, you run a red light, and strike someone with the car.

Sociopaths will always get their hands on guns...

Agreed.

I don't know if it is my bad english, or that you just don't get the fact that when normal people are allowed to have guns, the group of small criminals (that in Holland do not carry weapons) will also get guns?

We already agreed that sociopaths will get guns whether they need them or not. The questions is; what do normal people do with guns? Do they then become sociopaths? Probably not. So, the question is not "How do I keep guns away from honest, peaceful people?", but rather, "How do I keep guns away from people who will used them to commit crimes?" AND better still, "How do I help to prevent honest, peaceful people from becoming sociopaths in the first place."

There are so many examples {well publicized anecdotes}...

Again, my thoughts need to be formed by statistical research, not by individual anecdotes. "Man, goes crazy, crushes cars and kills dogs with giant lawn tractor" -- how can we stop him!!!

In a country where normal people don't have guns; would you bring a gun with you when you went around breaking in to houses?

Let me try to slip into character.... First, it hard to think straight due to my heroine withdrawal, but if I had access to one I'd probably bring it just in case. I might stop to weigh the possible criminal sentences of having it, or not having it, but probably not, because then I might just rethink this whole burglary thing too.

If however you know that the chance is very big that the home-owner has a gun; would you bring a gun now?

Again, I'm either a smart criminal who ensures that there is no one home, or relies on my cat like stealth, or I'm a stupid one who blunders into homes whether or not people are there knowing they might be also better armed than me. If I'm stupid enough to be the later, then I'm certainly stupid enough to have a gun whether or not I need it. Because, I'm really, really stupid. If I were smarter I would have considered the downsides of not just getting caught, but also of getting blown away by the home owner.