This topic is certainly a great illustration of the culture clash between Americans and Europeans so I appreciated Jay Allison making that one of the central themes of his essay.
He's right - Europeans just don't get the American attraction to guns, and I'm not surprised that he felt he had to really think for answers that would satisfy this European bewilderment.
For me one of the positive points of the piece was that in these short few minutes, there was an arch of development. The author's evolving attitude to guns. He describes well what makes them so attractive to him, how he derives comfort from things that would scare the life out of me for example.
And I very much liked his open ended statement at the end - leaving the listener thinking that his attitude to guns is still in a process of evolution.
I think the Sinatra song popping up three times in this short piece was uneccessary and distracting. I just wanted to focus on what he was saying and found that focus slipping when the music came in.
I did like the short inserts from the gun shop and of his kid ('oh dad' she starts off and in just those two words, one can hear very well this young person's opinion of dad's toys. Did I detect a dose of disappointment with just a dash of exasperation?)
I do have my own opinions on the subject of gun ownership, and while the author didn't turn me into an instant fan of guns, it was interesting to hear a mild mannered and intelligent man discussing his passion for them. It made me as a resident of Europe think that maybe not everyone who likes to play with guns is a bullet short of a full barrel.