Only 12 percent said they think the number of gun crimes is lower, while the rest said they think it remained the same or didn't know.

NPR: Reports Show Gun Homicides Down Since 1990s

For some, it is based on the fundamental belief that gun ownership is the essential freedom upon which all other freedoms rest.

BBC: President Obama's next campaign - against the gun lobby

It remains to be seen as superstar lawyers do battle, whether the world of guns will be opened - a door closed to the rest of us because it costs so much to buy a gun, its ammunition and to join the shooting ranges the law requires of South African gun owners.

BBC: African viewpoint: Dying to be armed

The rest left with a 45 mph fastball, a sore elbow, and a conviction that the radar gun must be defective.

FORBES: Think You Can Top 49-Year-Old Jamie Moyer's 78 MPH Fastball? Think Again.