Guns kill. Knives kill. Rocks kill. Doesn't mean they're all the same.

(Interesting that cars also can kill, but nobody uses them as an example because they're licensed and registered.)

They're not. There's a huge difference. I've never heard of a drive-by knifing. Or someone killing thirteen people in a school with knives. (I'm not going into some sort of "save the children" routine here - just trying to point out that the gun is a better enabler than a knife) If someone walks into a bank armed with two bowie knives, sure, it's not a nice situation, but not nearly the same as someone walking in with two AK-47s. The physical proximity requirement makes quite a difference.

I've never heard of a knife, or a baseball bat, or a rock accidentally going off and killing someone. Sure, accidents happen with anything that can kill, whether it be a gun, knife, rock, electricity, or even a stepladder. It's a lot harder to accidentally kill someone with a knife or a rock.

Probably the closest thing to a gun that's not a gun would be a crossbow. It has the ability to hit from a distance. But it's not nearly as concealable.

Next time someone wants to compare the fact that both knives and guns kill, ask them if they'd rather defend themself with a knive than a gun. Somehow, I doubt they'd agree.

DMan - I'm not trying to draw children and school violence here. I know the violence levels have declined in reality. I know there's a big overreaction by countless people. And I agree that Courtney Love's argument is wholly flawed. They are all irrelevant to what I'm talking about here, and to be honest, I think your whole writeup is also irrelevant.

Guns, knives, cars - all these are dangerous as hell if used improperly, and totally safe if treated with the respect they deserve. If you disrespect the blade on a knife, you're gonna get cut. If you're not careful with your car, you're gonna get in a wreck.

Guns are the same way. Not exactly the same, but similar enough to draw the comparison. Maybe we should require licensing for guns - I haven't really thought that one out enough to decide. Trigger locks? Also a good idea. I don't have a problem with requiring training and safety features. I do have a problem with anti-gun nuts who insist that if we get rid of guns, all our problems will go away.

You've never heard of accidental knife deaths? I hate to tell you, it happens all the time. Someone's fucking around, tossing a knife, and they get cut bad enough that they die. If you fuck around with a knife, you'll get hurt. Same thing with a gun.

Don't spout numbers at me. Do you think recent schoolyard shootings are representative of the nation? Of course not. Violence, believe it or not, is dropping, despite the liberal media's best efforts to shock us with bloodshed. Unfortunately, some people have fallen for it and actually believe that America is a country rampant with violence, and clamor for tighter gun control.

I hate it when people bring up "children" in an argument. It makes it sound like adults have less rights than they do. That's exactly what the "million mom march" is doing right now. Yes, it's the mean streets in the suburbs right now, Courtney Love, you limosine liberal. Guess what her argument is? "My child will never see her daddy, because of guns." Talk about stupidity. Do you think Kurt Cobain wouldn't have killed himself without a gun? There are plenty of other methods to commit suicide.

For example, in Australia, crime was not really a problem, and people owned guns and used them responsibly. Since the Port Arthur massacre, when a schizophrenic nut killed 35 people, the entire nation has been clamped down with tight gun control after the media had a field day blowing the whole thing up. And crime is now skyrocketing, including homicide, rape, and robbery, and people have all their guns taken away. Not that statistics mean much, but since gun control advocates like throwing them around, I'll do it as well.

I don't care if you own a 9mm or a M249 SAW. If you use it responsibly, it's all good. Counter to popular belief, weapons categorized as "assault weapons" are not that easy to procure. More liberal media mumbo-jumbo used to scare people.

Sidenote: Haven't people realized that much of the media is full of crap? Shock value has a higher priority over truth in American media today, and if you believe everything they say, then you're a true moron.

Let me repeat:

Responsibility

It's something that comes with rights.

Actually Saige, it is totally relevant. Since the topic is in regard to gun control, the issue of responsibility has a place here. I'm arguing the distinction between weapons is irrelevant if everyone was responsible. In fact, if everyone was really responsible, then there wouldn't be any argument on gun control, and the world would be that much closer to utopia. But then again, that's wishful thinking.

Additionally, arguments about the ease of procurement of assault weapons are generally meaningless, no matter who uses them. Gun control advocates gloss over the fact that stricter gun control laws usually punish people who are already abiding the law. Gun control opponents who say that assault weapons are already difficult to procure are glossing over the fact that the weapons are usually procured by criminals anyway. The M-16, for example, has become a favorite among drug smugglers, not that American gun laws can control this.

Another Opinion

A similar argument against gun control, made by a Libertarian, is that if someone used a stapler as a bludgeoning weapon to kill someone, gun control advocates would suddenly want to start requiring license to use staplers as well.

His argument was based upon the fact that guns, and all weapons, are tools. This argument conveniently ignores logic. As many of you have said, a gun is a tool used to kill, maim, cause harm, or impair another living creature. Guns have no other purpose. Guns cause fear, damage, and can if used improperly, result in accidental death. A stapler, on the other hand is designed to hold sheets of paper together, and if used improperly, results in papers held together shoddily, or with the wrong sheets put together. A staple remover easily fixes this (a gun's damage can not be so easily repaired).

Further:

• A knife, though designed to cause damage as well, makes killing much much more difficult. A knife also can be used to do many other things (like cutting carrots - go ahead, try to use a gun to do something as mundane as cutting carrots). Also, a knife is more easily defended against.
• A car is a vehicle, used to carry people from location to location.
• A crossbow must be reloaded after every shot. An AK-47 is semi-automatic (in one common US variation), and far deadlier.