I just don't think that, but so did Thomas Jefferson (see the quote below which you conveniently ignored; what was his role in crafting the US Constitution again? Did he play an important role? I forget....hmmm). This is one of those topics where the facts belie the emotional decision makers.... it may seem counter-intuitive to all but rational objective thinkers (yes, I'm a proud member of that fraternity)

Actually if you CONSIDER the facts you might RECONSIDER your opinion...
The fact of the matter is there have been numerous instances where a well-armed public made life a safer place -that's a fact, not an opinion, it really happened. Consider the following FACTS:

1. Forty American states now have "shall issue" or similar laws, by which officials issue a pistol carry permit upon request to any adult who passes a background check and (in most states) a safety class. Research by Carlisle Moody of the College of William and Mary, and others, suggests that these laws provide law-abiding citizens some protection against violent crime.
2. Private property owners also have the right to prohibit lawful gun possession. And some shopping malls have adopted anti-gun rules. Trolley Square was one, as announced by an unequivocal sign, "No weapons allowed on Trolley Square property." In February of this year a young man walked past the sign prohibiting him from carrying a gun on the premises and began shooting people who moments earlier were leisurely shopping at Trolley Square. He killed five. Fortunately, someone else -- off-duty Ogden, Utah, police officer Kenneth Hammond -- also did not comply with the mall's rules. After hearing "popping" sounds, Hammond investigated and immediately opened fire on the gunman. With his aggressive response, Hammond prevented other innocent bystanders from getting hurt. He bought time for the local police to respond, while stopping the gunman from hunting down other victims.
3. In Utah, there is no "gun-free schools" exception to the licensed carry law. In K-12 schools and in universities, teachers and other adults can and do legally carry concealed guns. In Utah, there has never been a Columbine-style attack on a school. Nor has there been any of the incidents predicted by self-defense opponents -- such as a teacher drawing a gun on a disrespectful student, or a student stealing a teacher's gun.

Israel uses armed teachers as part of a successful program to deter terrorist attacks on schools. Buddhist teachers in southern Thailand are following the Israeli example, because of Islamist terrorism.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., long-time gun control advocates, including Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.), agreed that making airplane cockpits into "gun-free zones" had made airplanes much more dangerous for everyone except hijackers. Corrective legislation, supported by large bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress, allowed pilots to carry firearms, while imposing rigorous gun-safety training on pilots who want to carry

This I wrote and sent to you in March, do you remember?

Finally, an interesting side-note but apropos to the discussion is the book titled “Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American As Apple Pie” by Clayton Cramer, Nelson Publishing. Up until 1969, virtually all New York City schools had riflery teams…thousands of students carried rifles on subways, buses and streets to and from schools. Up to 1963, all commercial pilots were required to carry guns and were allowed to until 1987. Today, there are towns (Kennesawy, GA, Greenfeld and Geuda Springs, KA) in the US that actually require all residents to own guns. You can only guess at where these towns rank on the crime per capita statistics- needless to say it is EXTREMELY LOW.

In colonial times there were numerous laws mandating people have guns for personal defense and defense of the community –even in Church where some priests were required by law to check if parishioners were carrying! According to probate records, 70% of Americans bequeathed guns.


Glad I could help...

So many editorial boards and other commentators - esp. in Europe, are blaming "easy access to hanguns as Virginia has such lax gun laws" as a catalyst for this event in Virginia.
What they fail to state however, is that Virginia has a law that forbids handguns, 100% absolutely, from being brought on campuses. In Virginia, universities aren't "gun-free zones" by statute, but college officials are allowed to impose anti-gun rules. The result is that mass murderers know where they can commit their crimes.
Last year the Virginia legislature defeated a bill that would have ended the "gun-free zones" in Virginia's public universities. At the time, a Virginia Tech associate vice president praised the General Assembly's action "because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus." In an August 2006 editorial for the Roanoke Times, he declared: "Guns don't belong in classrooms. They never will. Virginia Tech has a very sound policy preventing same."
Actually, Virginia Tech's policy only made the killer safer, for it was only the law-abiding victims, and not the criminal, who were prevented from having guns.
The founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, understood the harms resulting from the type of policy created at Virginia Tech. In his "Commonplace Book," Jefferson copied a passage from Cesare Beccaria, the founder of criminology, which was as true on Monday as it always has been:
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."