Most of my friends own guns.
I own bicycles.
Some of my friends who own guns, also own bicycles.
Thinking about this a while back, I realized there are quite a few parallels between the two interests, and one enormous contrast.
- Both guns and bicycles are available in a dizzying array of styles, capacities and levels of quality*
- Both, though relatively simple machines, require precisely machined parts in order to function efficiently
- There is an almost infinite supply of after-market add-ons, services and replacement parts for both*
- There are innumerable clubs, sports and events centered around each*
- You can purchase the equipment and learn the skills necessary to build each nearly from scratch, if you so desire*
- Both guns and bicycles are highly-evolved technological marvels whose basic layout has varied little over centuries
- Despite the enormous variety, each really only has one purpose - gun:hurl a projectile, bicycle:transport a human
On that last item is where the two diverge and the comparison becomes contrast. The space between bicycles and firearms on the scale of human need is vast. Transportation, though important and necessary, does not - cannot - offer both peril and protection for human life, at the same immediacy as weaponry.
Of course, you'll have the same amount of luck getting your Moots past security at the airport as you will your Taurus, but you'll probably spend less time in jail for an attempt with the former.
*In the US