in light of recent events...another comparison, if you will

Ok I don't know how P.C. it is for me to talk about this right now, but the death of Charlton Heston has got me thinking about the difference between America and China in terms of guns. I have talked to just about everybody here that I can about US politics, and guns always come up in the conversation. Chinese people don't have guns. Ever. A policeman has to be on special assignment, such as a drug-bust, and he must account for every bullet. Guns are respected here as the serious and dangerous weapons that they are. I know China also has a violent past, but let me put it this way: Chinese people don't live with the fear that everyday activities, such going to a college class or going shopping at the mall, may put them in the line of fire of a crazed person with a gun. It just doesn't happen here. China's not perfect, but I confess I feel a lot safer here because NOBODY has a gun. Sure people here die just as much as people die in the US, but not from the same violent crimes as in the US. In China I think you're more likely to die from 1. the crazy traffic, 2. the pollution, 3. lack of health care. Of course, the same threats face Americans as well, but the gun factor just isn't here at all. I don't care what anybody says - guns kill people. People with guns kill people. And people with guns kill people easily. The students at Virginia Tech, Columbine, Northern Illinois, and countless other schools, as well as the Christmas shoppers in Nebraska never thought that by going to school or to the mall they would be risking or even losing their lives. It's a sad world when even Sears isn't safe anymore...