Stephen King on US gun contols.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Armistead

I agree with the point, guns are made to kill, except guns don't kill people, no more than knives, arrows, baseball bats, etc.. 99% of people don't buy guns to kill, the legal purpose of guns is defense, sporting and hunting, the illegal purpose is murder.

I agree, but the two of your "legal purposes" involve killing, or at the very least maiming. As for the "99%", anyone who buys a gun to hunt intends to use it for killing, just no humans. Anyone who buys a gun for defense does indeed realize he might end up using it to kill, though we all hope we won't have to.

I've never shot anybody with any gun I've owned, and as far as I know neither have any of my friends. One friend said the sound of his .45's slide racking as he came up the stairs scared off a burglar on two different occasions, but that if it hadn't he would cheerfully have shot them. Another friend lives in the valley over from us, on a couple acres of horse property. He and his wife each have their own shotguns and handguns, mainly for what he calls "Kitty problems". They get occasional visits from mountain lions. So yes, they call it defense, but if it comes to that it will involve killing, which is why they bought the guns.

What I'm saying is that rather than deny the banners' cry of "Guns are only made for killing!", embrace it. If you live in a place where big cats, bears or bad people can kill you and yours, having a device designed to kill is not a bad thing.