I've lived in a small southern town with fewer than 5,000 people all my life. I've never owned a gun of any kind and never once felt that my safety was in danger due to not having one. Gun fanatics are totally full of shit.
A few things. But first a question, seriously. Do you ever even try to see the other side of an issue? I really want to know.
Everyone who owns and wants to keep a gun is not a "fanatic." I dislike the NRA, but when I read posts like this it makes me want to sign up. Seriously, statements like yours are worth more than gold to the NRA.
More importantly, a town of 5,000 (I know; I grew up in one) will almost certainly have a police department. And people in such towns often live in neighborhoods where people watch out for each other. Even if you live outside of town, you're 5-10 minutes away from a law enforcement officer at your door.
People who live in the remote parts of rural counties (for example, my farm is 6 or so miles outside of a town of 300) are 30-45 minutes away from law enforcement. I am very (very) comforted by the fact that I have rifles and shotguns in my house, even though I will hopefully never need them for self-protection.
(I'm sure I've lost you to a blind rage, and you're hammering out some extreme reply about how I- a social liberal and political moderate- am some Ted Nugent wannabe, but for the rest of the crew...) I think some of this comes down to comfort level. I have two friends who have small planes. Every time I fly with them, I am scared shitless. I try to hide it, but they can tell. To them, flying those planes is like driving a car, because they know how to do it
and they are careful. Similarly, some people are very comfortable around guns. I am certain that my guns are not going to inadvertently harm someone, because I know how to handle them, and I am careful with them. I think some people who haven't handled guns a lot feel about guns the way I feel about small planes.