"Gun owner" is probably one of the top few (if not the largest, it's tough to tell) demographic groups in the US -- more than "smoker" or "union member" or "registered voter" or "Californian" ... it might even be bigger than "worker" -- you're telling me that this is the statistically meaningful attribute of those who murder with a gun?
[WS:] While I am generally supportive of your general stance on this issue, I also believe that the above can be countered by the argument that gun ownership does create potential for social interaction that alters individual consciousness and leads to violence. Social interactionist position on violence is that it is a function of opportunity and social interaction in which one happens to be involved rather than a fixed mind set or predisposition - see the well known Stanford Prison Experiment http://www.prisonexp.org/ or the excellent work by Jack Katz, _Seductions of Crime_ .
PS. If my citation of a press article under the heading "business class consciousness" counts against my record, I am already overposting, and thus out of here for today.
Wojtek