The top of the hierarchy lives in fear of lower groups. According to an article in Slate, here is a quote from Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association:
"We know, in the world that surrounds us, there are terrorists and home
invaders and drug cartels and car-jackers and knock-out gamers and
rapers, haters, campus killers, airport killers, shopping-mall killers,
road-rage killers, and killers who scheme to destroy our country with
massive storms of violence against our power grids, or vicious waves of
chemicals or disease that could collapse the society that sustains us
all."
But all of us are losing, and dying, because of the fear that keeps the top of the hierarchy from informing itself with facts. The evidence overwhelmingly shows that guns leave everybody less safe, especially harrowing for women and children, who die from gun violence in America at far higher rates than in other countries. There is a significant positive relationship between gun ownership and overall homicide levels.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2015/01/good_guy_with_a_gun_myth_guns_increase_the_risk_of_homicide_accidents_suicide.html?google_editors_picks=true
