Guns in homes, carried in handbags and school rucksacks, briefcases, car glove compartments and jackets, accessories to kill and injure, to threaten and intimidate. Don’t leave home without one.

In 2010 over a third of American adults owned a gun and there were a staggering 310,000,000 non-military guns (known to the authorities) in the country. It is a number one can barely register. One thing is certain; it’s far too many firearms for any one country. A series of mass killings have recently shaken a gun complacent America into debating the issue of arms within society, gun controls, regulations and enforcement. A debate inhibited by political cowardice in a $billion election year, for nobody running for office wants to upset the high church of guns in America, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and their 4.5 million members.