It's the Guns, Stupid

This is an old argument which until recently, we hadn't heard much of in years. 

It's NOT the guns. It's the CRIMINALS running around the streets using them to k*ll people.

Republicans put the blame on criminals. Democrats put the blame on inanimate objects. pic.twitter.com/8BNuoAlHhw

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) August 13, 2025

It was usually stated as "guns don't kill people. People kill people." 

The only problem is that it is guns which uniquely kill people. Cars kill people, too- but unlike guns, are not manufactured for the purpose of killing anyone, and get most people to and from work, which is a useful function. Moreover, cars in every state must be registered, whereas there is no firearm registration requirement in 42 states.

  

According to Wikipedia, there are at least six definitions of the term "mass shooting" and by a very expansive definition, 272 individuals were killed in such incidents from 1/1/5 through the end of July.  By contrast, the number of persons killed in mass stabbings in the same period was zero, zilch, none. The latest incident of a mass stabbing occurred on July 26 in America's heartland:

A 42-year-old man is facing charges of terrorism and assault with intent to murder after 11 shoppers were stabbed at a Walmart supermarket in the US state of Michigan.

An assailant used a folding knife to stab five men and six women, including a Walmart employee, on Saturday afternoon in Traverse City.

The victims, ranging in age from 21 to 84, are all expected to survive.

Notice something different about this, Jennings? Eleven strangers brutally attacked by a man wielding a knife with "all expected to survive." (They all had been released from the hospital as of eleven days later.)  If eleven people were shot in one incident, would we expect all to survive- and how often is it that eleven individuals are even wounded by a man with a knife?

People with guns kill people. Arguably, guns themselves don't kill people. But bullets from those firearms surely do.

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