kontiki writes:

That's because you have been indoctrinated to fear firearms and
that no "good' person should ever need one and they are 'dangerous'.

Not so. The reality is that there is generally no indoctrination at all
concerning firearms in countries where they are not common. Indeed, the
greatest exposure to firearms for people in many countries is American motion
pictures, which regularly feature gunplay (and hardly indoctrinate against
it).

Most people in most countries know very little about firearms, apart from the
fact that they are normally used for hunting or killing people. Those who
aren't interested in hunting or killing people aren't interested in firearms.
And while the notion of someone in the countryside having a firearm for
hunting isn't necessarily that repulsive, the notion of someone in the city
carrying one (and the implication that it is intended to kill people, not
food) is naturally repulsive to most people, in the same way that murder is
repulsive.

A "locked away" gun is about as worthless as tits on a boar hog.

Not if you have time to anticipate its use, which would be the case in the
vast majority of scenarios.

Let me tell you it is the person holding the firearm that is
dangerous, and if it were not a pistol it could be a knife,
a club or a bomb or even bare hands.

Only one of these works at a distance without harm to the bearer.

As long as the world is full of 'bad' people it is up to 'good'
people to be ready to protect themselves and others.

The United States isn't full of bad people, but it is certainly full of guns.