Cars Kill People!

Good meme!

I think the response to this argument from the pro-gun control people would be to talk about the distinction between the intended purpose of cars, versus the intended purpose of guns.

The intended purpose of guns can be recreation (my son is a state champion with a shotgun in trap and skeet), protection from harm (I've drawn a handgun twice in my life and kept myself from being mugged), and hunting (obviously). Gun manufacturers never intend for their products to be used illegally just like alcohol manufacturers, car manufacturers, or any company that produces any product.

Saying a gun is only intended to kill is akin to saying the only purpose of alcohol is to get you drunk. I could easily say the only purpose of alcohol on a college campus is to get in a girl's pants or to get freshmen wasted so we can make fun of their antics. Both are illegal. But when we tried banning alcohol, it didn't turn out so well.

There are four times more car deaths than intentional gun deaths (take out stats on DC, New Orleans, Chicago, and New York and the US gun death rate is one of the lowest in the world -- all "gun free zones" btw). There are 40 times more deaths from tobacco products. There are more deaths from medical malpractice than guns, 30,000 people die from falls, 38,000 from accidental poisoning, 5,000 people are intentionally killed by something other than a gun, we have 800,000 people a year dying from cardiovascular disease ... where are the cries of SOMETHING (anything?) MUST BE DONE! for that?

If the anti-gunners would do a little historical research, the "shot that was heard 'round the world" in Boston that fateful day came about because King George had issued orders to confiscate the guns of Bostonians. Didn't turn out too well for the anti-gun crowd back then. It won't fly today either.

I didn't know that, about King George and the Bostonians. Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Those are some good points. You didn't specifically mention law enforcement and military use which I imagine would also represent a sizeable proportion (but then again I suppose that could go under the "protection from harm" category you mentioned, but on a national level).

My feeling on this issue is that when you really press people on why they're against other people being able to lawfully use guns, it doesn't come down to facts about the matter, but rather just their feelings about guns (I am aware that this a somewhat ironic sentence in that I started it with "my feeling on this is," but I am not trying to use it as an argument to persuade others, just a personal observation from how I've seen people talk about the issue). :)