some people speak of something called gun violence as if the guns were roaming about creating mayhem. each of those guns were operated by an individual who made choices. the gun didn't participate in the situation by itself, no more than a car chooses to crash;

Every time there’s a tragic incidence of gun violence, I read the claim on social media, “it’s the guns!” implying a causal relationship between the availability of firearms and violent crime. The concomitant corollary is that restrictions on gun ownership would reduce violence and lead to the peaceful society we all want. I don’t believe this is the case, and will explain why.

I concede that the claim “it’s the guns!” has some element of truth in it. A gun is a more effective and lethal means of inflicting harm than many other common weapons, such as knives, clubs, rocks, fists, and feet. A firearm can be employed to deadly effect by a person who has little to no training. In the final analysis, all that is required is to point the weapon in the correct direction and pull the trigger. This is why criminals are generally able to deploy guns very effectively.

The argument for prohibition is that removing or restricting guns from society at large will reduce violence. There is an element of logic in this conclusion, but the analysis is incomplete and therefore flawed. Guns may also be used to reduce violence. It’s been estimated by serious scholars that the total number of defensive gun uses in the US annually is between 55,000 and 4.7 million. In recent years, US homicides by gun have numbered about 15,000. Thus defensive gun uses significantly outnumber gun murders.........more......