During the recent town hall healthcare protests, John Whitehead of the Huffington Post claimed that, while of course legal, those who brought guns to these meetings were "downright stupid" and did nothing but "endanger innocent lives". This is an example of what's wrong with the gun debate. Gun critics see these meetings as unsafe because there are people with guns on premise. But, these same critics likely have no problem with an armed police force at these meetings, and would probably feel safer in that situation. Gun proponents see armed citizens in the same light - that if a psycho with a gun decides to go on a killing spree, the dude's going to be stopped WAY faster if there are people there willing to defend their fellow man. My sister-in-law was at Northern Illinois University during the Valentine's Day Massacre last year. The guy got 54 shots off, striking 24 people and killing six, including himself before police showed up...several minutes later. Any thoughts on how this tragedy could have been lessened?

#14. Franklin Pierce