Considering the amount of guns in America alone, I believe 99.9999% of civilians who posses a gun here, aren't planning to ***** people with them either.
As far as vehicles are concerned most people who buy a car aren't initially planning to planning to ***** people either but ***** and reckless driving along with inattention (all of which are conscious decisions) ***** a great many people worldwide. More than illegal gun shootings, I believe, by a considerable margin.
As far as animals are concerned I wasn't addressing that but I see animals ***** by cars on the road virtually every day in the area where I live. Darn, I'm so sorry Mr. Deer/Cat/Dog/Raccoon/Squirrel but I just couldn't be bothered to swerve around you since I was texting on my phone or at 30mph over the speed limit and couldn't miss you in time... Whether on purpose or not, the animal (or person) is just as dead.
How many defendants at sentencing time after ***** someone with a gun or a car stand up and with crocodile tears flowing, say something along the lines of: "I didn't mean to shoot/hit him or her and I'd take it back if I could, Please forgive me...." Whether on purpose or not that person is just as dead.
Whether you personally like it or not, using a gun to hunt/***** animals in the wild as a sport, is legal in most countries in the world.
Both guns and cars are tools and when used legally for their intended purpose, they serve that purpose and are justified.
However when either are misused, no matter why, each is just as unlawfully deadly as the other.
The point being that until the human variable enters the scene, neither tool ***** anyone and just sits collecting dust.
But when that human makes a conscious decision to misbehave while using said tools, people (or animals) start getting ***** or worse.
Stop blaming the tools and focus the attention at the place (the human variable) where it can actually do some good. And unfortunately I don't have the solution for that either but I know what we have been doing so far isn't working. A new approach is needed.
And I apologize for doing my part in helping this thread slide off track but this is a subject on which I have spent much time contemplating and I lost focus on the o/p's original complaint. Mea culpa.
I am happy to have a civil conversation and I think most of us here are going with that.
Thanks to all. (off topic or otherwise)
I will add two/three parts here.
If I buy a gun, then I am going to shoot to *****. no other options. We can talk about protection, but if you are planning on protecting someone or something, then you are planning on shooting someone... to *****. guns have no other use. If this isn't in the plan then you don't know what a gun will do. (I don't have a problem with hunting, but again, we understand that this is *****. my brother in law and other friends who hunt, trained, registered, etc. )
I went to get my camping gear and speak to the guy behind the counter for a fishing license. We chat and he tells me how scared he is about selling guns. He mentions the one question that lets him know if the person should have a gun. He asks "how many rounds do you want?" If the person doesn't even know the term rounds, then they shouldn't be buying a gun (according to me and the salesman). What makes him scared is the majority don't know what a round is....
We are all in the middle of gun control.
We aren't thinking we hand guns to people leaving prison. (no control)
We aren't thinking we ban all guns. (no guns)
We are all in the middle. Civil discussion can discuss the middle. (Sadly, civility is rare.)