Guns turned the Americans into slaves of their overlords, i.e. the US Federal government and the weapon industry. Especially the latter answers the question "Who shall benefit?", as Markus Tullius "Cicero" would have asked if he had lived in this time period.
Private firearm ownership gave birth to a nation. It was the citizens of the 13 colonies that fought the British Empire, along with the French fleet that won America its independence from the crown. This is the very reason that gun ownership is the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution.
In the 1860s it lead to tenthousands dying or getting crippled in the Civil War, because grabbing muskets and Minié bullets seemed easier than letting the Congress do it's duty and actually create solutions to the political issues of the time. The rich made war, the poor and common men died.
Congress tried and failed to come to a conclusion that would avert the Civil War. The reason there was a war in the first place was because several States seceeded from the Union. Abraham Lincoln could not let the country be split, so war was delcared. The States seceeded because of the perception that the federal government was overstepping its bounds.
In September 2001, the US Government became trolled, leading to innocent people dying (T towers related deaths). To make things worse, the governments of the US-of-A and Europe decided to feed the troll which led to even more deaths. The troll and trolled made war, the common and poor men (and women and children) died. Lured into the "join the legions, see the world" trap that used the Americans' gun fetish to lure men and women into the meat grinder that a soldier's life is.
I don't know how you could call the terrorist attacks of September 11th trolling, which is pretty much what I think your post is.
In my humble, biased, American opionion, wars have become far too political. When we wage war, it should be fought with the full might of our military. We go in, blow all your shit up until you surrender and then we pull out and let you pick up the pieces. No nation building needed. If you go back to doing what it was you were doing in the first place that caused us to go to war, we come back, blow your shit up and pull out again.
Our military is compromised of volunteers. People who volunteered for the job, whatever their motives may be. They are very good at their jobs, when allowed to perform to the best of their abilities. Afghanistan and Iraq would have been over in months if the military were allowed to topple the regimes and pull out.
Also, I own several firearms. Including the evil ones the gun grabbers want to ban for no reason more than they look exactly like the weapons the military uses. I'm a gun loving American. I just don't like it when people say stupid stuff that makes every gun loving American look bat-shit crazy.
But this all is way off topic. Protecting the intellectual property of corporations is no reason to get violent. Your vote is your weapon, use it wisely.
USA...
