What characterises a fear as being irrational or rational is clearly somewhat subjective, but should be based on the chances of it occurring and the consequences. Then one need consider the impact (financially or otherwise) on taking steps to reduce the risk you may be afraid of.

Installing smoke detectors (apart from being a legal requirement), is inexpensive and has no negative implications - only positive ones. The outcome of a fire can be devastating. Therefore it's entirely rational for you to install smoke detectors, despite the very low risk of a fire in your home.

Bringing a gun into your home to protect against a possible home invasion is a less clear-cut decision. You may assess the risk of an invasion to be so high that the increased risk of suicide or family homicide is worth taking. Your choice. Good luck, and I mean that sincerely.

As you advise others not to be irrationally afraid of very uncommon occurrences, you might consider the relative rarity of suicides. It's not like getting a gun means someone will kill themselves in your house.

Completely agree. You should read that book - it's actually a pretty entertaining read.

When a study finds "eating bacon doubles your risk of heart disease" one may think, "Oh, I'd better stop eating bacon". But then you read on, and find that, say, eating 4oz of bacon a day (quite a lot of bacon) increases your risk of heart disease from 0.1% to 0.2% (i.e. still a very low risk). In other words, you really have to understand the numbers, not just read the headline.

But you also have to still (subjectively) consider the consequences too, and how much they matter to you. For example, if having a gun in my home increases the risk of my child committing suicide by 40% (as the study I cited above found), then while it is still a small risk, that increase in likelihood is simply unacceptable for me to take because the consequences are too great.

there is no morality in devine command. i chose to be a good person because it creates a better world for all of us, not because somone told me to or threatens me with punishment if im not.

I don't know a single American who feels the need to defend their home (from burglars) with guns.

I lived in the U.S for 5 years. On my street, 3 of the 5 homes had homeowners who kept guns in their homes to defend from burglars. That was in a nice quiet part of Phoenix.

I think it's far more common than you are suggesting.

So I take it that believe that it would be wrong for you to commit murder (in case where it was not self defense). Do you tell your child that it is wrong to commit murder, or do you tell your child that he is free to decide whether to "be a good person" or whether "murder creates a worse world."

You didn't answer me above. I'm wondering: do you think it is ever ok to act with retaliation or revenge as your motive.

Of course I tell my children that murder is wrong. Its objectively wrong because we all (sane people)agree that it causes great harm.

Not replying directly to you but to the thread in general..

Can we please throw a little racism in the mix here for the sake of discussion? I mean we already have gun control, darwinism at its finest and religion. I think it just need race to be brought up to be complete.

Well if you have kids then I hope you're comfortable having easy access to the guns. An 18 year old boy in my town just tragically committed suicide with his father's gun. Very few outward signs of being unhappy. Has stunned the community and of course devastated the family.

I would guess a very, very low percentage of households in my town (northern NJ) have guns (based on all the people I know). Maybe the boy would have committed suicide another way if he didn't have easy access to a gun, but maybe he wouldn't and would still be alive today. Imagine his father having to wonder that...

Is home invasion really such a threat that you feel it necessary to keep guns in your home? Is that a wise choice?

I'm too busy to oblige personally. I am reading Leonardo DiCaprio's global warming tweets and looking at his selfies, both from cabin of private jet on his way to one of his houses.

I live in a million dollar house on a lake. I have nice things.

Of course I tell my children that murder is wrong. Its objectively wrong because we all (sane people)agree that it causes great harm.

I think revenge is a murky prospect. Not all retaliation could really be described as Revenge. I don't think I would support revenge in most circumstances. I think that retaliation could be necessary for justice. Of course an eye for an eye should not be the goal of retaliation.

I used to run with a gun when I first started triathlons. I live in the boon docs with some shady areas nearby and a lot of loose dogs (pitbull variety). Sure, I could have run in the safety of my neighborhood, but that got boring as the mileage increased. Also, much of my neighborhood was undeveloped. Eventually you find there isn't a gun light enough to comfortably carry on a run, except maybe a derringer. So now, I carry a t-knife on my house key. Have a bigger one for colder weather. They handle humans and wild animals alike pretty well if you don't mind getting a little rough. Having been a boxer most of my life, I'm sure I could land a good one with one of those that would end a fight quickly.