In 2011, just 323 people were killed with rifles, including ‘assault’ rifles, according to the FBI.
Apparently it’s impossible to determine how many of these kills were committed by assault rifles, because assault rifles aren’t a legit category of weapon, which also means it’s impossible to determine how many people used assault rifles in defense of themselves and others, I mean I’m sure it’s happening, at least occasionally, why wouldn’t people be using them in defense?
http://liberalguns.blogspot.ca/2013/01/how-many-people-are-killed-by-assault.html
If say half of these kills were committed with ‘assault’ rifles, that’s about 160 a year.
There’s about 300 million people in the US, so the odds of being killed by one are about 1 out of 2 million.
And even if we banned assault rifles, all, most or at least many of those some odd 160 kills a year may end up being committed with other rifles, or with other guns, or with other weapons, or with hands and feet anyway.
I mean in 2011, 728 people were killed with hands and feet, 1694 were killed with knives, so hands, feet and knives are much deadlier for they’re more readily and easily available.
So let’s say just 80 of those 160 kills were preventable, banning assault rifles would only prevent about 80 kills.
And how many of those some odd 80 kills a year were committed by gangsters, who would’ve probably got their hands on one anyway, one way or another, with or without an assault weapons ban, because they’re criminals with no respect for law and order, and in many cases using them to kill other gangsters for that matter?
Again, let’s just say half.
Then that takes the number down even further, from 80 to 40 preventable deaths.
I mean according to google, approximately 3500 people inadvertently drown a year in the USA, in non-boat related drownings.
Should we ban recreational swimming?
I mean it’s a completely unnecessary activity, like owning an assault rifle supposedly is.
Or should we at least make it illegal to take your kid swimming?
And thousands of people die a year bicycling, dozens-hundreds of them kids.
Should we make it illegal for kids to ride bikes?
Dozens-hundreds of people die skating, skiing and snowboarding a year.
Dozens-hundreds of people die kayaking.
Guns are a necessity for some, ranchers use them to defend their livestock from wild animals, hunters kill animals who’s meat they mean to eat and/or sell, and people occasionally use them to defend themselves and their families from burglars and armed robbers.
And arguably people ought to have the right to own assault rifles, in prep for a manmade or natural disaster, and if a few extra people die a year because of that, so be it, it’s an acceptable risk, again the odds of you or your kid being killed because there wasn’t an assault rifles ban is 1 in many millions, it’s astronomically low, and there’s many other activates from swimming to bicycling we allow ourselves and our kids to do, that’re just as, or far more deadly dangerous.
It would cost billions of dollars for government to purchase everyone’s assault rifles, as there’s millions of them in the USA, for only a few dozen deaths a year, instead we could be spending that money to build new hospitals and improve existing ones, saving thousands of lives, and it would cost millions of dollars a year to continually enforce an assault rifle ban, we could use those millions to give poor people the advanced medical procedures they so desperately need to save their lives, but hardly anyone thinks of this stuff, hardly anyone counts the cost.
No they just scream: ban guns, or ban assault rifles, as if it was self-evident.
Few people think about this stuff rationally because they’ve been conditioned to react to it solely on an emotional level, for arguably government in conjunction with the media have an agenda.
From my research it’s not about saving lives, it’s about government further monopolizing force.
They always want a little more for them, and a hell of a lot less for us.
