Guns are used for sports shooting, which is as valid as any other sport since largely sports have no point but enjoyment, and most simulate combat and stand in for actual battles. Secondly the intended purpose of an object has nothing to do with its regulation. Shampoo is made to wash hair and shoes protect feet but both are regulated on planes because they CAN be weaponized. The point isn't guns aren't dangerous or don't need any rules, it's that people seem to have a bling fear of guns when cars kill more people than guns and recently have been used in mass sprees. "Cars are meant for..." And boric acid is meant for science and industrial projects not melting faces, but acid is highly regulated in places where that occurs. My point is guns are potentially dangerous but of all the dangers we face everyday THAT is the one that seems to get people in a tizzy. Cars kill more people more regularly. It doesn't matter what something is intended as. Follow the body count.
Neither were boric acid and cars. That's the point. People want more accountability and restrictions on firearms when in daily life there are far more likely things to be killed by. When we discuss acts of mass violence the car is fast becoming a tool of terror because of its ease of availability and use. The purpose of a thing or your feeling about it, how convenient it is or how much you like it are irrelevant in the face of facts. Look at the top killers for your country, start at the top of the list and work down.
2016 saw 570~ homicides in the U.K., with a 4% jump in guns and 12% jump in knives. Traffic deaths were at about 1,700 and sex crimes at 33,000. The United States saw 15,600 homocides in 2016. The US saw a rise of 6% traffic deaths to over 40,000. The DOJ statistics show over 320,000 sexual assault victims in the US per year. Cars have been getting safer and safer, so the rise in deaths must be either the roads or drivers, but where is the push on that? 146 people tragically killed in mass shootings is call for decisive gun action, but 320,000 sexual assaults with a huge portion against children under 12, and the bumper stickers and Facebook threads still focus on guns? Guns kill people. The handgun is only good for killing humans at close range. Nothing else. But people have made guns the devil and in doing let the real devil walk amongst them without a second glance.
Not all 146 people were killed in the same room in 15 minutes either. Guns are fast. In the wrong hands at the wrong moment they transfer a destructive impulse into a reality you can't take back. If you look again you'll see 40,000 deaths by car. That's passengers and families along for the ride, pedestrians minding their business and people living their lives. I don't care if guns could instantly kill anyone on earth. Look at actual numbers and not some emotional knee jerk reaction. Look up or do your own math on the statistics and you'll quickly see that your actual odds of being killed by a gun or even shot are lower than your odds of committing suicide or having a random accident. Your odds of dying from heart disease are FAR greater. It's just not as glamorous or easy to rally against the complex host of factors that lead to self harm or other causes. People like a clear villain and a clear path to success. "Kill osama and end terrorism." We need better laws but bigger fish abound
Don't get me wrong, I understand what you're saying and I get your point. It just seems that you are putting less of an emphasis on guns.
I'm not saying they're public enemy no.1, I'm not staying that they are worse than knives, cars, medical diseases chemical attacks, whatever.
I'm just saying it's an offensive weapon and should be treated like so. No person ever walks down the street with a switch knife who isn't prepared to stab someone (in aggression or self defense), and it's the same with guns and baseball bats
I agree. A gun is a machine which if used in the wrong state of mind or by someone who doesn't have respect and education are extremely dangerous. When everything is "perfect" accidents still happen. Guns can kill easily. My point is it is disproportionate. If there was 1 gun death a year and 100 deaths by hedge clippers which would warrant a more severe reaction? Because when 40,000 people die because a huge group lacks the education or reverence for a dangerous machine, you can see the priorities are skewed. Online or in real life just opening ones mouth about guns one way or the other can cause people to frenzy, or even stop associating with you. If people reacted that way when a friend decided to drive home drunk how different would the world be? "I've done this before, I'll be fine." Yes we need gun laws, but my point is we treat guns like they are the biggest threat while allowing bigger threats everyday. The reaction is what bothers me not the law, as long as the law makes sense
If you use "logic", then this image makes no sense at all: first of all, it's impossibile to put restrictions on something that you can do with your bare hands, like strangling or beating. Knives are dangerous, but you can stab someone using the knives in your kitchen, even the smaller ones, also the prime purpose of knives is cutting food/stuff wich means that everybody will have the need for one, someday. On the other hand, guns ARE MADE to kill, period. It would be much easier to stop a crazy man trying to punch everyone in a movie theatre, rather than some mentally ill shooting everybody. Also, nobody ever said that who shoots someone is a complete normal person: the problem is when a freak has access to guns too easily. Not to mention all the accidents we hear every week. Logic. Use it, goddamit.
Uh-uh.
I kill people
With guns
POW
People kill people.
People with guns,
People like me!
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/fleshisgrass.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/us-and-uk-murder-rate-and-weapon-updated/amp/
I'm not saying they're public enemy no.1, I'm not staying that they are worse than knives, cars, medical diseases chemical attacks, whatever.
I'm just saying it's an offensive weapon and should be treated like so. No person ever walks down the street with a switch knife who isn't prepared to stab someone (in aggression or self defense), and it's the same with guns and baseball bats