However, the world is not ideal and many people do not practice what they preach.

To your question: What if Europeans had guns? I would say that people probably wouldn't act the way you noted if they did. I know when I traveled in London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, Zagreb, Manchester, Amsterdam, Firenze, Roma, Napoli, Bologna, and dozens of other European cities I tried to be a better tourist than you describe. I also was aware that while Europeans don't have guns, they do have knives (and they use them) and they do have bombs (and they use them). So, while guns are off the list of threats, they are not as genteel as you seem to try to indicate.

Were it me, I'd've brought my own double-barrel shotgun out – even unloaded, a shotgun tends to get people's attention very quickly!

A person protecting their property while acting within the confines of the law and using the best tools for the job is not allowed in your state? Please tell what state that is so that none of us move there by mistake.

"If I ever so much as see a gun in someone's hand, I will immediately call 911."

As well you should; guns belong in holsters or other proper storage and only in the hand when their use is imminent. If you see a law abiding citizen with a gun in their hand, we would love it if you could call 911 for us, because we're probably a little busy.

Moral of the story:
Hang up and pay attention to the bylaws if you don't want bad things to happen to you for no reason.

For those of you saying "in the rest of the world, you can walk on someone's lawn and not get shot"...Hello and wake up... In Dafur, you can walk on someone's street and get hacked to death with a mechete; in Columbia, you can be visiting, or even helping the locals, and you can be abducted, held hostage for years, raped and have your baby delivered in a jungle with a butter knife C-section; in Iraq, a little boy playing in HIS OWN YARD can be brutally burned beyond recognition...

oh let's not forget, it's the Americans who are helping that little boy, it's the American soldiers trying to help in these other countries... that's right ....let's all hate the Americans, except for when we need them and their guns.

Despite what you may think now, our founding fathers had the foresight to Constitutionally guarantee our right to bear arms for a reason.

we just accepted the fact that arming people doesnt do much good.

when you guys finally decide that 50,000 american gun deaths a year isnt really acceptable, i'm sure you'll follow suit.

Anti-gunners complain that there is more gun control needed. Do you folks STILL not understand that gun control won't work? All gun control would do is limit the law abiding citizens of the country to protect their lives and property. Criminals don't give a hoot about gun control laws...which is why they are armed. Wake up from your Utopian slumber and smell the coffee!

What has become of us?

HERE IN THE REST OF THE WORLD, WE FIND THIS SLIGHTLY WEIRD, YOU COULD SAY....

2. He wouldn't have left is she hadn't had a visible reason for him to leave. He wouldn't have left just because a "woman" told him to, especially an older woman.

3. Three cheers for the home owner! I'm glad she was successful in getting him to leave.

I really doubt she would have used the gun unless he had tried to enter her house.

I shake my head at posts like "the world is laughing at you" and "I'm ashamed of our nation." When did it become appropriate to mock and scorn an elderly woman who was merely putting herself in a more defensible position?

This woman determined there "may be a threat" to her. She armed herself and meet the "possible" threat. She determined that he was not a threat and did not shoot him. What she did was legal and the non threat was not harmed.

My question is what would have happened if this really was a bad guy and she did not have a weapon?

Columbine, No Illinois , Virginia Tech, countless workplace shootings, Mall shootings, innocent kids by thousand shot at home.

This madness MUST stop.

The NRA must be stopped before we lose control of our society.

Also, how many Texan tourists wander around Europe making no effort to speak the local language, and, when not understood by the locals, just speak Texas English louder? What if Europeans had guns?

The Unanimous
Declaration of Independence
made by the
Delegates of the People of Texas
in General Convention
at the town of Washington
on the 2nd day of March 1836.