>>>>>>Just read yesterday (in may weekly news digest):
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Since JFK was assassinated there have been more Americans killed by gun, by their fellow citizens, than in all the wars of the 20th century put together.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>A comparison of similar cities: Seattle and Vancouver showed that whereas the number of people dying of violence in general was about the same, that of those dying of gunshots in the Canadian city was only a fraction of that in the American city. Can't remember what the study period was.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Nuff said
>>>>>
>>>>>If you think the guns are dangerous, look up the statistics on how many have died at the hands of the medical community, or by automobile. Those numbers dwarf handgun deaths.
>>>>
>>>>OK then we should ban doctors and cars!
>>>>
>>>>Is this a spurious argument that negates what I've just written then? Just cos one stat is worse than another doesn't mean you don't have to do anything about the lesser.
>>>
>>>So, if you have a pinhole in one end of your boat, and a gaping hole in the other, which do you pay more attention to?
>>
>>The only gaping hole here is in your argument. So we should, as I say, ban medical staff from practising and cars (the gaping hole), but pay no attention to gun control (the pinhole), because the first two kill more people?????
>>
>>And treating one is mutually exclusive from treating the others?
>
>My statement deals with y'all having much to say about gun deaths and nothing to say about dui deaths, or others. Why have you homed-in on this one issue? If it is concern for human life, why not decry cars. That's right, cars, not the drivers. Since you focus on the gun, not the shooter, you should also warn people about the evils of cars (not just SUVs).

That would probably be because the subject of the thread is gun deaths, not DUI.

No contest from me that we all should be doing something about "car abuse" and, if you like, incompetent doctors.

But yes, one could focus on the gun. A car has uses: it gets you from A to B, but it can cause death. A gun in this context has NO use other than to cause death (or to threaten). If you say "protection" then it's only really protection vs the other guy with a gun (whose only use is to threaten or kill you). OK the other guy could have a machete, granted, and so I'd drop the SOB myself!