# Why do so many Americans feel they need tools for killing people? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 8, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849 "2015-12-08T20:37:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/21 "2015-12-08T23:37:04Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Do they actually want to kill people? > > Don’t they realize that statistically, a gun is more likely to kill its owner than anyone else? > > Reading comprehension: they’re called “assault weapons” for a reason. > > How does it make sense that people who aren’t allowed to fly can buy guns legally? Humans are the animal that makes and uses tools. At least, more reliably and consistently. Nothing kills like a human. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/22 "2015-12-08T23:40:20Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Do they actually want to kill people? No. I hunt and enjoy target shooting. I suppose I would do what I can to defend my own life should someone try to do me grievous harm, but it’s not something I want to do. > [@](#): > > Don’t they realize that statistically, a gun is more likely to kill its owner than anyone else? No. I don’t care about unqualified “statistics.” Remove intentional suicides from that pool and your numbers will change. My guns aren’t going to leap out of my safe and shoot me. > [@](#): > > Reading comprehension: they’re called “assault weapons” for a reason. Yeah, because politicians and activists invented that term to demonize certain guns based on little more than cosmetic features. > [@](#): > > How does it make sense that people who aren’t allowed to fly can buy guns legally? Because the “no fly” list is a recent phenomenon and laws haven’t been updated to include them as prohibited persons. BTW next time you should try poisoning the well a little more thoroughly. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/23 "2015-12-09T00:04:13Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Do they actually want to kill people? Next thread topic: Men: have you stopped beating your wives? > [@](#): > > Reading comprehension: they’re called “assault weapons” for a reason. They’re called “assault weapons” because that is the name that the people who decided that they were a Bad Thing gave them. That’s a factual answer by the way; it is not a term used by industry nor users but solely one designed for political purposes. Or see post #8. “Assault rifle” is a unrelated term and technically speaking those are near-impossible to obtain or have a price tag of $10,000+ and extensive background checks. The things that aren’t technically assault rifles but commonly called such aren’t any more dangerous than another rifle and not used in much crime, as a current thread posits. Please look up the eytmology (as > [@](#): > > How does it make sense that people who aren’t allowed to fly can buy guns legally? Huh? Are there many citizens/permanent residents who are on such a list? It would seem to put a damper on their ability to stay in the country and thus make a legal purchase, no? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/24 "2015-12-09T00:56:31Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Do they actually want to kill people? People buy guns for the same reason they buy insurance. Not because they want to use them or because they expect to use them but so they’ll be there in the event they’re needed. I don’t know why this is so hard to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/25 "2015-12-09T01:01:59Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Can we please stop talking about what a few people how lived 200 years thought was a good idea? It has no bearing on how we choose to live our lives today. Says you. Since we’ve received the official word and have been properly chastised now, we can write this off as another diatribe and discard it with the rest of the trash. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/26 "2015-12-09T01:08:24Z")
Except for the fact that those old guys put it in the Constitution, which most certainly has a bearing on how Americans live and govern themselves today. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/27 "2015-12-09T01:09:14Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Can we please stop talking about what a few people how lived 200 years thought was a good idea? It has no bearing on how we choose to live our lives today. As well as the right to bear arms, free speech was a good idea 200 years ago. Does it have any bearing today? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/28 "2015-12-09T01:11:26Z")
Less and less all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/29 "2015-12-09T01:11:39Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure there are no guns that stop bullets, only ones that spit out bullets. Strangely, you don’t see millions of people buying bullet-proof vests… Suppose a home invasion is going on. Which scenario is more likely to work out in your favor? A) Grab your gun and shoot the bad guys. B) Grab your bulletproof vest, let them shoot at you until they hit your head or it turns out they’re using rifle bullets. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/30 "2015-12-09T01:25:02Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > “Assault rifle” is a unrelated term and technically speaking those are near-impossible to obtain or have a price tag of $10,000+ and extensive background checks. The things that aren’t technically assault rifles but commonly called such aren’t any more dangerous than another rifle and not used in much crime, as a current thread posits. ? As I posted in a previous thread, under the (expired) '90s “assault weapon” ban, [this](http://cdn3.volusion.com/j4enh.r2en5/v/vspfiles/photos/BCM%20Carry%20Handle%20AR-15-3.jpg?1447479649) would have been banned, but [this](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Mini14GB.jpg) would not. Can the OP articulate why the first one is an “assault weapon” but the second one is not? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/31 "2015-12-09T01:26:04Z")
Because other people have tools for killing us. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/32 "2015-12-09T01:36:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 1. Because they are afraid of criminals and feel guns will protect them. > 2. Because they think guns are cool and they will be better people for having them. Not that there’s anything wrong with #3 (at least the part before the “and” and quietly ignoring the part after the “and”). I own all kinds of stuff just because it’s cool. While I don’t own a firearm currently, they are lovely pieces of precision machinery that I certainly admire, i.e., to me they are cool. If I owned a gun (something I consider now and again) I might actually choose to carry it. Aside from exercising my rights, there’s a bona fide argument for personal safety. Although I have no desire to use it to kill a person, it’s silly to think that in a him vs. me situation I wouldn’t be prepared to do so. Mostly I don’t go into environments where that’s a concern, but then the folks in California probably thought their party wasn’t a high risk area, either. Now that I’ve started thinking about well-oil metal, precision machined parts, I’m kind of in the mood to go out and buy an interesting gun. Obviously not while I’m here in China, but maybe when I repatriate. Or not, as it’s usually a passing fancy. ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/33 "2015-12-09T02:35:22Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Why do so many Americans feel they need tools for killing people? Most don’t feel we need a tool FOR killing people. But we have a tool that we use for other purposes that CAN kill people. My guns are not for killing people. Neither are my hammers or my car or my truck or my pipe wrenches or my bowling pin or my stepping stones or my liquor bottles or my knives now all of these could be used to kill if necessary. So for the OP, do you have any tools that can kill people? WHY?? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/34 "2015-12-09T03:41:23Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Can we please stop talking about what a few people how lived 200 years thought was a good idea? It has no bearing on how we choose to live our lives today. No, we won’t stop talking about it. The U.S. Constitution is remarkable in the degree to which it has remained relevant over time, with a relatively small number of changes. And it has significant bearing on our lives today, your opinion to the contrary notwithstanding. ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/35 "2015-12-09T04:03:39Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > As I posted in a previous thread, under the (expired) '90s “assault weapon” ban, [this](http://cdn3.volusion.com/j4enh.r2en5/v/vspfiles/photos/BCM%20Carry%20Handle%20AR-15-3.jpg?1447479649) would have been banned, but [this](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Mini14GB.jpg) would not. Can the OP articulate why the first one is an “assault weapon” but the second one is not? Actually, that mini-14 appears to have both a flash hider and a bayonet lug, which would technically make it an assault rifle as well. > **[Federal Assault Weapons Ban](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban#Criteria_of_an_assault_weapon)** > > The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB or FAWB), was subtitle A of title XI of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a United States federal law which included a prohibition on the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms that were defined as assault weapons as well as certain ammunition magazines that were defined as large capacity. > The 10-year ban was passed by the U.S... It’s a nitpick of a dumb law, but there you go. Real gun control isn’t trying to separate the “good” guys from the “bad” guns, but trying to make sure that murderous assholes don’t have them while preserving the rights of responsible gun owners. That’s very different from the NRAs stance of no gun control ever. Also quite different from the “ban the scary black guns” camp. Personally, I’d like to see a national firearms registration act that reaffirms the individual right to bear arms while registering every firearm in the country. Add mandatory licensing and safety training no more ardorous than drivers licensing. Finally, require all sales to be run through a dealer and require a background check. It’s not going to eliminate gun violence, but it’s fair and rational and will cut down on straw purchases that get guns into the hands of criminals. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/36 "2015-12-09T04:10:28Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Do they actually want to kill people? > > Don’t they realize that statistically, a gun is more likely to kill its owner than anyone else? Statistically speaking any given gun is overwhelmingly, astronomically unlikely to ever kill anyone. Of the minuscule percentage that do, the owners are probably the most likely to be on the short end of that stick. However, that’s almost 100% preventable through proper gun handling and storage. Guns are just a tool- originally developed for military and hunting uses, and they’re tools that have a recreational component. They’re just massively fun to shoot, whether it’s putting holes in paper, shooting sporting clays or any number of other shooting sports. Plus, a lot of people enjoy hunting. Which, for most kinds of hunting, is DIFFICULT. Bird hunting requires quite a bit of skill to actually do, and larger animal hunting can be dangerous, and require a lot of skill, both general hunting as well as shooting skill. And as far as the home defense angle goes, my aim wouldn’t be to go out room-clearing Delta Force style, but rather hole up in a back room, call the cops, and then use the gun if anyone threatened us before that happened. I figure that in that situation, having a gun is better than throwing shoes or using a pocketknife. But ulitimately, what’s it to you? Why is it anyone else’s business what I do with my guns, so long as I’m doing it in a law-abiding way? Why is there a contingent of people out there who presume to judge me about it? You could (and historically most people probably would have) spin it around just as easily and ask what kind of coward you are for not having a weapon to defend home and hearth? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/37 "2015-12-09T04:32:21Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Statistically speaking any given gun is overwhelmingly, astronomically unlikely to ever kill anyone. Of the minuscule percentage that do, the owners are probably the most likely to be on the short end of that stick. > > However, that’s almost 100% preventable through proper gun handling and storage. And by not using them to commit suicide, which is how the vast majority of gun owner deaths occur. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/38 "2015-12-09T04:36:05Z")
Armed beats unarmed any day of the week (from Tom Clancy.) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/39 "2015-12-09T04:53:16Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > Suppose a home invasion is going on. Which scenario is more likely to work out in your favor? > > A) Grab your gun and shoot the bad guys. > B) Grab your bulletproof vest, let them shoot at you until they hit your head or it turns out they’re using rifle bullets. > > Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. And bulletproof vests are usually highly restricted. And if they are not, then they can be defeated by obscure means like “any caliber of centerfire rifle ever made.” Yet people who are ignorant like spouting off about “armor piercing” capabilities of 100 year old rounds. And if you get the type of vest that does protect against rifles, then you dramatically cut down on your maneuverability and comfort. You’ll need a certain strength to protect against your garden-variety deer rifle. And if the varlet uses an “assault weapon,” then you’ll need… less protection, because they are significantly weaker than deer calibers, and your military standard .223 is even not legal to hunt with in some states due to a higher chance of wounding. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849/40 "2015-12-09T06:21:58Z")
Back to the OP, yes, in the US their are a certain amount of gun owners who practically have wet dreams about killing an intruder into their precious personal space. I read about them on gun boards and how they would have blown away some intruder. Personally, while I will protect my self and family, I dont think I could bring myself to take a life of someone just wanting some of my junk. I’m thinking of the hero in “Les Miserables” who was first helped by a minister whom he had stolen from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-americans-feel-they-need-tools-for-killing-people/739849.md?page=3)