Is gun ownership a good thing?

[acricketer]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/oct/02/america-mass-shootings-gun-violence

Un-phooking-believable.

[Fraggy]

Agree, the kid that killed the 17 school kids in Florida was expelled from that school, under psychiatric care and was still able to walk into a store and buy a semi automatic rifle.
I got my gun licence a year or so ago, and I had to complete over 2 days of training, background checks from the RCMP and even my wife had to sign the application to say she had no reasons to believe I shouldn't have a gun.
That was just for a semi auto assault rifle.
If I want a licence for a handgun, I have to go through further training and a more rigorous background check.

[acricketer]

Sounds like a more stringent check in Canada. I remember a scene from "Bowling for Columbine" where banks were offering a free rifle if you opened up an account. One of the questions on the form was 'Are you mentally incapacitated?' When Michael Moore asked the bank manager what happens if he answers yes, the bank manager said that it wouldn't be a problem!

[Itsonlyagame]

I’ve owned a shotgun for the last 10 years. When I applied for a licence an officer from the firearms unit came round to my house to interview me, ask me my reasons for owning one etc. He asked me about myself, general interests etc and it became obvious he was generally just trying to get a feel for whether I was a bit of an oddball or not.
Needless to say I made no mention of supporting QPR.