It's not an obsession. It's just a part of American life. Firearm ownership, by private citizens, is the first defense against governmental tyrrany. Non-Americans have trouble understanding that, and appear to me to be overly passive in their interactions with their governments. I have no idea why.
I don't need them, but it is my constitutional right to own them, and that is a right I assert with a great deal of personal confidence. I simply understand and appreciate firearms in the same way that I understand and appreciate any other machine or electronic device. They're also fun to shoot--kind of a personal best in honing one's skills with pleasurable practice--very relaxing.
Actually, I do; but only if that person(s) want to kill or maim me or any of my family members. I have the inalienable right to self-defense, should the need arise.
+5000
No. I live in a very safe neighborhood; but the perception of personal insecurity is not the reason to own a firearm. In fact, a person who buys a firearm out of fear is the last person who should own one. Scared people hurt or kill others accidentally, and give responsible firearm owners a bad reputation.
[End of my participation in the hijacking.]
Second Amendment