WOuld you prefer that these perpetrators used knives to intimidate their victims? Or baseball bats?
In a duel between a little old lady and a 250 lb gorrilla perp, i'd prefer the choice of weapon be handgun rather than knife or baseball bats, if I were the little old lady. As they said, Colonel Colt made everyone equal.
John, You should be aware that rifles are FAR more lethal than handguns (they can kill people at far greater ranges) and overall in the WORLD, far more people die through rifles than handguns (look at all the conflict zones in the world).
The world would be a MUCH better place if ther were no rifles (at least according to your ethos). Maybe you should start by giving away (or destroying) your rifles as a start to making this world a better place.
What do you say?
-akhilesh