Tattoodguy - thanks for saying I sound smart. I'm hoping to go into law, so this is something that's pretty important to me.
I suppose it's fair enough that people want to defend themselves. However, there's still no need for higher calibre (is that right? I know shit all about guns) weapons to be owned by regular people in the name of self-defence. I mean, you hear about people in America being able to buy a gun over the counter that is almost identical to those being used by soldiers in Iraq. That's just stupid, no private individual needs to "protect" themselves that much. There's also the trade-off between protection and the fostering of a peaceful society. A society in which everyone owns a gun is a society in which nobody trusts each other, which makes conflict all the more likely to occur.
And when it comes down to it, there are five purposes for the punishment of criminals:
Reintegrative Shaming (as in, making them ashamed of what they've done so that they can re-enter society; similar to rehabilitation), Retribution for victim/victim's family, Rehabilitation, Deterrance and Incapacitation (I'm pretty sure I've listed these before somewhere). Capital punishment arguably only fulfills one of those criteria. How is it then a suitable punishment?
EDIT: Tattoodguy, reading your last couple of posts, you obviously have major problems with the cops. I can understand your issues, but you have to understand that the cops are people too, and they're just as likely to be afraid of someone waving a weapon (a gun, knife, stick, whatever) at them as anyone else. Think about it - you're a regular person, if someone came at you with a knife and you were carrying a gun, would you use it? And it's potentially worse for the cops, because the uniform can actually attract violence. In the end, cops are trying to keep the peace, which is why it's such a big deal to kill a cop. They aren't supposed to try to kill people (but you'll always get dickheads sometimes I suppose), and they DO get in trouble if they deliberately kill someone, but in the end, cops are people too, and they're probably bloody scared at the thought of having to confront people who want to, and would, kill them.