I used to be kind of anti-gun-ownership. Then I went to Florida to visit a friend, and he took me to a gun store, where he bought a gun (far from his first) right then and there, and took me firing range, where we shot for a while and met folks who brought their guns along. You know, while I'm still cautious and I think competence and safety in gun ownership needs to be enforced - honestly, I found the whole culture of gun-owning remarkably civil and super-safe when I actually encountered it in real life. Anything but the gun-crazed yahoos that critics often seem to portray gun-nuts as - but rather competent and safety-minded people. That was actually one of my most positive experiences of the US so far.
[edit] There even exists
a video of a certain hairy russian/canadian trying his hand at a CZ-75 for the first time. Man, that's some good memories - even if I was a really terrible shot. Here's where taking a training course would've probably come in quite handy
