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Do guns kill or do people kill people?
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Guns make killing more effcient

Yes, people pull the trigger, but guns are designed to kill people in a fast and efficient manner. Gun manufacturers design guns to kill, rapidly and efficiently.

The Argument

Guns kill people because they are weapons that making killing easier and more efficient. For instance, a murderer can often kill one person or two with a knife before being stopped. But, in order to reach a level of mind-blowing deaths, in order to end that many lives and destroy and an unimaginable number of families, you need a gun. Guns exacerbate situations and turn bad situations into deadly massacres. The NRA makes the argument that guns don't kill people.[1] But guns kill people more than any weapon; mass murderers intentionally choose military-style assault weapons because they know they can do the most damage in the shortest period of time. Guns do kill people because if such high-powered, military-style weapons were not so easily available, there would be fewer massacres, less deadly shootings, and lower death tolls.

Counter arguments

Guns are only efficient in the hands of efficient killers. It takes a person who knows how to operate a gun to kill people. In order to operate these high-powered, military- assault weapons, it takes a person who has somehow managed to obtain a gun and is comfortable firing it. The problem is the systems that allow unfit people to do this. In the United States, among those who are not allowed to purchase or possess a firearm are people deemed a danger to society and patients involuntarily committed to mental institutions.[2] Thus, guns are supposed to be kept of the hands of people who are unfit to operate such dangerous weapons. But, there is an issue with the system, with the rules and regulations that do not keep firearms away from unfit people who are then able to learn how to operate these weapons. It is not guns that make killing a lot of people easier and efficient; it is insufficient laws and a broken system that needs to be addressed.

Proponents

Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=576E306C-5FD4-4144-A28A-2C034628D888
  2. https://www.dw.com/en/8-facts-about-gun-control-in-the-us/a-40816418
This page was last edited on Monday, 12 Oct 2020 at 22:01 UTC

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