Craziness !!! Now we will see guns in churches and on campuses ...what a shame...what does it say about our society?....that the terrorists and mentally unstable have won.....to my many conservative friends, when you elect these far-right activists, this is what you get....
I saw that Nelson and Kennesaw Georgia now have laws that everyone must own a firearm.....maybe we can do the same thing here in Peachtree Corners.
To the silent and sensible majority out there - wake up....yes there are plenty of issues and excesses on the left/center, but the far right will do much more damage.

Thanks to each of you for your thoughtful responses. I suppose we can agree to disagree.
The fact is that the USA has the highest rate of suicide and homicide in the world. Most of it is done by guns. We can either blame all kinds of things, or choose to lower the rate. The best way to do that is through limited gun control (ask all the other developed nations on earth). it works. Oh, and we can still responsibly own and carry forearms - just like they did 200 years ago. Of course, back then they carried 30 pound, one shot muskets. The world has changed and maybe we should too.

I commend you for trying, Doug. I think you may have momentarily forgotten where you are, though. I hope it will change someday, but I suspect I will be gone before it does.

@Richard T You certainly have a grasp on talking points. All you do is repeat them. Your all-cap sentences do nothing but irritate, though. When you do that, the sentiments you are typing become moot. All people see is the obnoxious caps.

@Jimmy Who said I was worried about dying from a gun? Did I say that? What I hope to see change is the mentality of those who think having a gun is somehow equated to being "free".

I am a gun owner. I have no problem with guns. I don't even need a law that says if I can carry it or not. If I choose to carry it, I will. I also won't whine about others expressing their feelings about gun ownership.

My problem isn't with the guns. It's the seemingly increasing population of idiots who think they need a gun to breath that bothers me.

This is an interesting, informative thread with @Doug challenging his conservative friends. So, now in the aftermath of the Assault Weapons Ban failure, what possible solutions ought to be on the table with this issue? With this world's advanced technology, should there be a centralized background check system in place where all weapons are sold including gun shows? Should those same records be tied in with medical/mental health care records? Certainly, civil libertarians/privacy-rights advocates would have a problem with such a system, but would the majority of U.S. citizens feel more comfortable with an enhanced electronic background check system and should that idea be put to a vote? @Richard T brings up a good point about how mental health care issues are related to the central debate on gun control.