How does an average American gun-owning citizen rationally justify his/her possession of gun(s)?

The biggest rational reason is that I live in a safe, free democracy that has always been armed, and I want it to remain a safe and free democracy. Whether an armed population contributes to safety and freedom is obviously a matter of debate (I'd guess that the asker would say it does not), but I believe it does, in the long run at least, and I believe history agrees with me.

Second, I like guns. They are marvelous little devices, and it brings me joy to own and shoot them.

I may not be an average American, but I know a lot of American gun owners from many walks of life, and my experience is that my beliefs around firearm ownership are relatively typical.

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Raman Shah on Quora:

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