When I was young, my grandfather would tell me stories about our German heritage and his role in World War II. I don't know if it was due to selective memory or just that he didn't make it clear, but until I was eight or nine years old I assumed he had fought for the Nazis. In reality, he was a bombadier in a B-17 Flying Fortress who saw his friends drop out of the sky all around him. Somehow my grandfather instilled in me the importance of firearms, which oddly enough did not occur in any of his four sons.
I understand the average person's aversion to firearms and do not delude myself that any of the common arguments will persuade anyone to agree with my beliefs. I have the statistics to prove my points just as gun control activists have theirs. However, I do believe that the mainstream media instills fear in people. This results in the perception that violent crime, and specifically gun related crime, is a much bigger problem than it is in reality. I'm sure you hear about crimes committed with guns all the time, yet you never hear about crimes that are stopped in progress by a citizen or officer with a gun. The data is available - the media chooses not to report it because those stories don't sell. The truth - firearms in the hands of upright citizens end up stopping over twice as many crimes as are perpetrated by criminals with guns.
I am not a paranoid gun fanatic - I do not believe it is likely that I will ever have to use a gun in defense of myself or another innocent person. The vast majority of people are good. Want proof? Only about 7% of American citizens are ever incarcerated in their lifetime. Also, a university study showed that practically none of the US soldiers in WWII would fire upon the enemy, because of the natural aversion to taking another human life.
Apart from my belief that it is a citizen's responsibility to defend their rights, life, and property, I find the safe use of firearms in a controlled environment to be quite enjoyable. Whether it be skeet, target shooting, plinking, or IPDA matches, this is a fun American tradition in which I am proud to participate.