Gun Safety Rules

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by Lupo

I fail to see the significance of such comparisons. It seems to me you are comparing apples and oranges here.

I was just trying to debunk the mindset that having a gun in the house is a recipe for tragedy, which IME is pretty common.

Originally Posted by Lupo

More people die slipping in their shower, than inadvertedly poisoning themselves with cyanide - does this mean that showers should be outlawed, and cyanide should be sold freely?

Is cyanide in half of the houses in a country of 300 million people already?

Originally Posted by Lupo

I am just saying that a point can be made for some sort of gun-control, even if cars kill more people than guns, because cars are not designed to kill people, and because banning cars would have a far greater impact on economy/lifestyle than banning guns.

It is true that banning cars would be bad for the economy and our lifestyles. However, one of the commonly touted reasons for banning guns is how dangerous they are. Well, they are pretty good at killing things. But it's enshrined in our constitution that we're all allowed "tyrannical gov'mint insurance" in the form of weapons. And as for how often they hurt people unintentionally, it's vastly rarer than other things that we accept as the price for economic prosperity or way of life, like cars.

So are they dangerous? Yes. But that's why the constitution allows us to have them. There's no amendment in the bill of rights ensuring our right to own teddy bears in order to safeguard against a tyrannical government, because teddy bears wouldn't do any good.

Originally Posted by Lupo

Tobacco and alcohol kill far more people than either guns or cars, but I don't think those should be outlawed - the US tried to outlaw alcohol, and it didn't go well. The same goes for drugs and the "War on Drugs", actually.

I agree. I think ~600-700 deaths a year out of 100,000 is a small price to pay to ensure that the gov'mint monopoly on force is checked by an armed populace.

Anywho, if anyone wants to discuss this further, feel free to start a thread in GenChat. These arguments don't belong in the GURPS forum. My bad for getting sidetracked.