This is part of an article I read this morning that was written a while back.  I found it especially uplifting and hope you will as well.  I have included the link to the piece which is about God, Gold, Groceries, and Guns.

Guns are controversial. I don't think you need an arsenal. You need a few simple weapons and the training to master them. This poem gets the point across.

A .45 for the bedroom,
A shotgun over the door,
A 30.06 for distance,
You don't need any more.

I would add a snub-nosed .357 for a lady's purse. Two shots will normally settle the issue. Either the assailant runs or else he cannot run.

You do not have to be an expert marksman. If you can hit a man-size target at 20 feet, you will do just fine.

The idea that guns are required for defense against gangs is naïve. A gang that comes into your neighborhood to pillage is going to be better armed than the police. They will be carrying automatic weapons. You will not win a shootout with a determined gang. The best you can hope for is that the members decide that there are lower-risk victims nearby. A shotgun is your best means of persuasion. There is nothing like the sound of a shotgun being racked to persuade someone that he has other urgent business elsewhere. The goal is not to convince the gang not to come through your door. The goal is to convince the first three members not to come through your door.

You do not want to go outside your home to confront an armed gang. The guns must be defensive. You want the invader to take the risk of coming through your door. He should bear the risk.

I think you should take a firearms course from local authorities. Get certified. If there is a concealed carry permit in your state, apply for it.

The United States has a long tradition of gun ownership. I hope this will continue. Support for an organization such as Gun Owners of America makes sense.

It's not that you need guns to keep law enforcement officers away. That is suicidal. Guns are necessary to send a message to the kinds of college-educated voters who favor using the state to compel people to submit the their social reform programs. It makes those people very nervous that there are millions of gun owners out there. This is altogether positive.

I think of the scene in The Day the Earth Stood Still, when the world comes to a halt. The professor, who knows why it has come to a halt, asks his secretary if this makes her nervous. She says that it does. "That's good," he replies.

If the state can take away our guns it is because we have moved past the point of no return politically. Owning a gun testifies to yourself that you have still not crossed the line. In this sense, gun ownership is part of positive self- reinforcement.

read more here:  http://lewrockwell.com/north/north1045.html