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Originally posted by MuadDib
Two flaws:
First, your statistics are for accidental deaths only. Second, automobiles are not built to be a method of killing. It would be impossible to regulate things that accidently kill people (just check out the annual Darwin awards), but we can and should regulate things that are made to kill.
On a side note though, I would say that cars should be more regualted on who drives them, how many can be owned, how much gas they consume, and how much they pollute. America is almost as ridiculous in its obsession with automobiles as it is with its obsession with firearms.
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The reasoning is not flawed. Our views on the subject differ. You look at a firearm and see death. I look at a firearm and see a tool. There is no inherent value on a tool. Our emotions color inanimate objects based on one's feelings.
I left murder rates out because of a singular unknown. People. A firearm will not fire unless someone picks it up and pulls the trigger. If you were to take firearms away from them, all criminals would do is find another tool to kill with, be it a knife or a bat or a car. People would be just as dead, and there would be a new scapegoat. I chose automobiles as a comparison because there are roughly (give or take a few hundred thousand) an equal number of them in the United States. ( I am only dealing with the US in my discussion, because it is up to other countries to decide how they wish) For an equal number of tools, the accidental death rate is nearly exponential for automobiles.
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I mean if you honestly can't see the different between something specifically crafted to take life and something that accidently does so then I think there is a problem.
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As you say, there is a problem. However, it is not as you say differentiating between an inanimate object "specifically designed to kill" and something that accidentally does. The problem lies in people not being able to look at a firearm and get past their initial fear and hatred to see it as what it really is: a tool.
Myself, I have had a firearm ever since I was three. Ever since I was old enough to understand English I have had safety and respect drilled into my head.
MuadDib, I would enjoy continuing this debate. Perhaps you could explain your views, since your mentality (no offense intended) is so foreign to me. I promise I will continue to (try anyway) be civil, and I apologize for any slights, and stepping on any toes in advance.
Edit: On a side note, for future reference could we plaese refer to "guns" as firearms. There is a difference; Guns are artillery pieces and naval cannons. Firearms are man portable weapons. Just a pet peeve of mine
