Tell me, are guns dangerous?

I'm going to go against the grain of the answers here.

Yes, guns are dangerous. This shouldn't make them scary or evil, as a chainsaw is also dangerous, but no one advocates banning chainsaws.

Gun safety is in the hands of the user, but even the most careful user can potentially make a mistake. On the other hand, if I must defend my life, I'd better hope the threat will find my gun to be dangerous.

A gun is like many other things that involve danger, either great or mild: Driving a car, riding a motorcycle, riding a horse, flying an airplane, etc. The reward is greater than the risk. But there's always a risk.

Still, "A gun is dangerous" is just a stupid, hypocritical statement used by anti-gunners to put restrictions on firearms. A gun must be dangerous to something, that's it's mission.

I'm not apologizing to the anti-gun, anti-freedom crowd for that.

1

Neither guns nor vehicles are dangerous. It is the person operating the gun or vehicle that presents the danger.

And yes, there are people who should not be allowed to operate either of them.

I have seen several different incidents where a drunk,reckless,or elderly person who suffered some sort of medical condition crashed his vehicle into a group of people causing multiple deaths and / or injuries.

They do make the news, not because of the shock value, but because it is out of the ordinary and a "public interest" story if you will. And yet nobody is calling for a ban on cars, not even assault vehicles. You know what they are.

Yet when some nut job goes mashugina and kills a dozen people it is front line news and the hue and cry goes out to ban those "evil guns" Their words, not mine.

The point here is that the object itself is not bad and does not cause harm. It is the raving loon in control of it. And no amount of legislation in the world will control that.

My theory: Guns are only as dangerous as the person using them. Just like cars. I see a lot more people dying from car crashes than gun accidents or shootings. People know guns are dangerous, so they act safer with them. Cars don't look dangerous, and they don't function to be dangerous, so people come to think they aren't dangerous. Also, whenever an accident or shooting occurs, everyone gets really paranoid about guns. Whenever a wreck or vehicular manslaughter occurs, nobody freaks out about using cars or other people driving. And I'm sure all of us heard the lecture in elementary school talking about the dangers of guns. It is beyond me why they don't further educate teenagers on driving safety. I'm 14 years old and I shoot guns with much more precaution and safety than many adults I've seen. Never took a safety class, gun safety truly only requires common sense.

Very good. You have discovered what all these anti-gun losers are incapable of accepting.

It's all in the person using them. If you consider the positions revered, the teenager shoots all the people in the range and says "oops" and the 30yo guy is in the car watching the road.

It's all in the people who use them.

And for the record, I would say the car driver. A crazed gunman is easy to take down, A car coming at you full speed, not so much.

This is an interesting question, thank you for making me think.

I would rather be at the gun range shooting with the guy in subject 1.Subject 2 is all too familiar to me.I run across her daily.Gun ranges are safer than the freeways.Its all about the people,guns and cars are perfectly safe.People make both dangerous.Tucson was the result of mental problems..bad drivers also have a mental problem...they can;t understand that driving is a 100% job.I still would rather be with subject 1.

speaking as someone who has done some damage with a firearm and someone that has been on the business and had damage done from a firearm. I have to say that they are not dangerous it is the person operating it even my two year old through the use of an airsoft pistol(like hes ready for the real deal) learned not to point it at someone. Chainsaws are dangerous hell you can kill someone with a ball point pen if u want. I mean come on this is common sense stuff

Sensationalism and exposure. Fear and tolerance. Shootings are much less common than car accidents. People are sheep and don't realize the death toll. They turn their minds off. More people die in car accidents than gun related. More people die from car accidents in a year than the entire OIF and OEF combined...but you didn't hear about that on the news. Besides, guns are bad...gawd, everyone knows they're the devil. Might as well contenue that Misconception. Anyone who owns multiple guns is obviously crazy and has evil plans.

no inanimate object is dangerous. it's the improper use of it that creates a dangerous situation. the vast majority of gun owners use firearms their entire life and never even have a close call with it, because they know exactly what they are doing. i'd like to say the same thing about drivers but i constantly witness lapses in judgment and concentration like you described.

guns are only dangerous when in the hands of someone who doesnt understand how dangerous they are, who isnt careful with them. if someone knows how to use a gun properly, it is much safer than those damn gang-bangers that do crazy crap with the guns. bein a hunter all my life, i make guns safe by the way i use them. anyone who hasnt seen what guns can do and doesnt understand them are the people who make it seem dangerous