I don't think their problem is that they are afraid of anything really. I have the impression that it has more to do with lulling the ignorant masses (who don't own or even like guns, having been brainwashed by the sensationalized media) into a false sense of security.

It also has to do with being politically correct in regards to what the media demands. And since the majority of the media in Europe is more than slightly slanted to the left, they want the guns to go. The media, and thus the ignorant masses, of course overlook that the bad guys have guns no matter how strict things are for regular, law abiding citizens...

This twisted mentality is the same up here in Norway, where they keep making things harder and harder for gun owners, while the bad guys just sneak what ever they want over the border.

If the leftist civil servants who actually run this country could have it like they really want, we'd all live in cities, not be allowed to own guns, let alone hunt, and obediently eat "Soylent Green" for breakfast lunch and dinner...

I personally don't have much use for an assault weapon in civilian life, but have no problem with other people owning them as long as they are mentally fit to own a gun. There does seem to be a tendency amongst some wackos to gravitate towards such weapons though, so a bit of control isn't all that bad IMO. Such as having no prior criminal records related to violence etc when buying such guns. Or when buying any gun for that sake.

What's very important IMO is that all gun owners stick together, instead of splitting up into interest groups that don't defend each other when the media attacks gun ownership. It seems to me that when things get difficult, the shotgunners, benchrest guys, muzzle loader guys etc etc try to stay as quite as possible so as to not attract attention when the heat is on another group. I fear that this mentality can lead to the downfall of gun ownership in some countries...

Erik