I haven't yet comes across a situation where I've needed a gun. I have enough martial arts training to deal with any aggressors... I would think that only in the USA and certain parts of the middle east would you need a gun to get by. If everyone made it law to melt down all the small arms then anyone in possession of a firearm would automatically be criminal.
I've made this argument before but I really don't see the impracticality of a Bow and Arrow, if you feel a need to disable your attacker from afar. It would cause fewer accidents, work forever, have re-usable ammunition and wouldn't give people the power to murder without proper skill and training... plus its damn near impossible to kill yourself or someone else without a LOT of effort. I don't think we'd have 5 year-old children killing their kid sisters if he managed to find one laying the house unless the child was truly demented. It really takes no effort to simply pull a trigger and accidentally blow a head off, its so easy a child could do it (and often does).
You seem to think I'm against you protecting yourself and I'm not, I would just like to see a safer USA, and I don't think you can do that without Gun Control. You said it yourself, guns are in the hands of bad people. We make it illegal to have guns and then only the criminals will have them, the police are just a phone call away. It would be easier to ferret out criminals because they would be the only ones with guns.
I'll cite Mexico because as far as I know there are pretty strict gun laws there, citizens are not allowed to carry weapons outside of their homes or even own them. You have the drug runners who are targeted frequently by police, you don't have the police busting in worried about accidentally tagging the people. That country is still far less violent than America even with the border. 6 Spanish women were raped recently, turned out they were all the girlfriends of dope dealers... if you don't mess with the narcos they don't mess with you.
Its not illegal to own a bow and arrow or carry one if you feel threatened.
But you are gonna have a hell of a hard time killing people randomly with one. Its a much safer alternative to a deadly firearm... and why should good law abiding citizens need to carry deadly weapons anyway? To protect themselves? Yes.. well whats the difference between a bad guy and a good guy. Nothing. A regular person can become a criminal at any time. Anyone can have a meltdown... but if there's gun control then not just anyone can own a gun.
There are less lethal alternatives to guns: Martial Arts, Batons, Tazers, Rubber Bullets, Archery Sets, Pepper Spray, Stun guns.
http://www.tbotech.com/stun-guns.htm
There is very little crime here in China and guess what, almost no one owns a gun. You CAN buy them on the black market, but if the government sees you with one, they'll call in the special task force and you'll be erased. I'd much prefer this system to the American... we also have jobs and a good standard of living for the majority of the population as opposed to the 40% unemployment rate of the US... I would not want to be in that climate with guns floating around among the hands of the unemployed. If they are trying to disarm you, that means the economy is only getting worse.