General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: How to refute the more murders with hammers than rifles fiction that is sweeping right wing websites [View all]Tommy_Carcetti
(43,173 posts)Designer/manufacturer=Intent to produce and sell a deadly weapon. (Naturally, at profit)
Purchaser=Possessing the actual knowledge and potential intent to use said deadly weapon, whether for lawful purposes or otherwise.
Let's not play stupid. For the most part, people don't buy guns as decorating pieces. (And by that I mean modern functional guns, not antique relics). They buy them knowing they could end up using them for their intended purpose, that being as a deadly weapon. Now, it's true that many guns will never be used beyond the shooting range. But even by doing that, they are preparing for the potential use of the gun as a deadly weapon. (And for the record--before you jump on me--I have no problem with people going to shooting ranges. I'm just again making note of an underlying reality.)
Let's stop pretending that people who make and sell guns are simply making and selling some ordinary household item, like a toaster or something mundane like that. They are selling something specifically designed as a deadly weapon. And they are doing so at a profit. Which in and of itself is fine. Except that I have a serious problem when profit begins to trump the general welfare of the public at large. I have a problem with it when it comes to healthcare, and I have a problem with it when it comes to guns. So when I see gun control laws that may have the ultimate effect of less guns being sold because of things like background checks or waiting periods, and I see those being opposed by gun manufacturers/sellers and their lobbyists because (ultimately) of profit, yeah, I have a problem with that and it needs to be addressed.
And your numbers argument fail to add up, so to speak.
Yes, there are 300,000,000 guns in the country but not 300,000,000 gun owners. Many gun owners (like Nancy Lanza) have multiple guns. Now, let's compare gun owners to gun deaths. And we'll remove deaths from things like hunting accidents and accidential discharges. Now, if you then run a comparision of the ratio of gun owners to non-accidential gun deaths to the ratio of say car owners to non-accidental car deaths, or hammer owners to non-accidential hammer deaths, or baseball bat owners to non-accidential baseball bat deaths, I can bet good money that the numbers will show a lot higher number of gun deaths to gun owners then all those other objects that *could* theoretically be used as a deadly weapons.
And that's a force to be reckoned with. I don't care if you say that the vast majority of gun owners won't actually use their guns to kill somebody, saying there's not a problem with guns in this country is sticking one's head in the ground.