While this issue is something that we all encounter around the world, I'm am going to stay within the confines of the US, as I live there and know it more than other locations.
In the US, citizens have the right to bear arms. Weather one likes that wording or not, such it is. However, I don't think it is necessary to have too much beyond a handgun for personal defensive purposes. If a person breaks into your house, unless they are loaded with a well stocked arsenal (which is unlikely), a handgun will do fine to deter them (or a Great Dane, booyah). Owning a shotgun is probably unnecessary, and semi-automatic weapons for personal use is outright unnecessary. Now, in my hometown and at college I've never really had the need for guns. In high school, the few times guns came about in talk was when some (pardon my French) asstard middle class white kid brought one to school to show off and be cool. However, if I felt that the area in which I lived warranted the ownership of a gun, for my own safety and that of those around me, I would probably get one.
In terms of hunting, I don't find it particularly interesting or necessary to the human experience. However, in a practical issue, it might be occasionally necessary. In my hometown, there are a lot of deer (I ask that you do not underestimate 'a lot'). This is because when cities and towns were built in my area, deer's predators were killed off. As such, they breed like rabbits, and the local governments allow hunting in certain areas at certain times of the year to curtail the deer population to not absurd levels.
Now, in terms of getting a firearm: it should be hard as all hell to get your hands on one, unless you're a cop or other profession that requires it. But there's a careful balancing act with this, but let me get some background out of the way first. As humans, we want what we cannot have. In the 1920s, when the US government prohibited alcohol, gangs and the mafia made riches off illegally selling and making it. As an extrapolation, when you ban something, there almost immediately grows a black market industry for that product. (Drugs, pirated movies and music, when a particular item gets banned in schools). As a logical conclusion, it's probably safe to say that an outright ban on firearms would result in an enormous black market that would create more violence than there is now.
Don't get me wrong, though, I believe that firearms should be highly controlled and difficult to get, but purchasable nonetheless. And many should not be purchasable for civilian use at all (automatics, etc... Even though that totally goes back on my whole banning things argument). Additionally, penalties for handgun violence should be harsher, as an extra deterrent.
