It never ceases to amaze me how people use fear mongering to frame their arguments, especially on issues involving guns. Lets state some irrefutable facts here... Guns don't kill people, people kill people. A gun is a tool, just like a cell phone. If you find yourself in a situation where a gun is needed and you don't have it, you will find out VERY quickly why the police departments of this nation, from coast to coast, removed the portion of the phrase, "and to protect", from their charters. The police do NOT protect YOU! They are there to SERVE you! YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN PROTECTION! Now that this has been made clear, it should also be obvious that the best protection for those law abiding citizens who wish to carry a handgun is indeed just that, a handgun. Besides, when the framers of the Constitution included the Amendments, they wrote the Second of these in just a way as to make it clear that the "Right to Bare Arms... Shall NOT be infringed". ... This, by the way, was confirmed by the Supreme Court (again) this past summer........... nuff said!