Guns, Oil and the American Way.

Eating at me right now is the status of one of my Facebook friends.   An American, she is of the belief, like a lot of NRA wanna-bes that guns don't kill people, people kill people.  Is she right?  Yes, to a point.  
What is eating at me however is that I want to respond to her post with perhaps just a little common sense, which in the world, seems to be lacking.  

To everyone who is calling for stricter gun laws in light of the tragedy in Tucson, may I offer this little tidbit: If guns kill people, then pencils misspell words, cars drive drunk, and spoons make people fat. Remember: HOLD THE PERSON ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS, not the means they chose to utilize!!! Repost if you agree...I just did!


So my response if I did want to start a shit-storm on Facebook would be something like this:


"The flaw in your argument is of course that pencils are a drawing implement, cars, a transportation tool, spoons, a kitchen utensil.   Each are manufactured with a non-lethal purpose in mind.  Honda doesn't make vehicles with the intent of them being used by drunk drivers.  No one at Laurentian thinks "Gee, this pencil is going to poke someone's eyes out one day".  Get my point?  Firearms, whether they are rifles,  shotgun or handguns, are manufactured with the same purpose:  to kill something."  


Yes, people kill people, but they kill people with guns - in the US.   Seventy five per cent of murders in the US are committed with a firearm.  In Canada?  About 32%.  Canada has gun control.  The US?  Only three states have gun control laws similar to Canada.  In some states, you don't need a carry to conceal permit.  


But hey, at least their rights aren't being infringed upon.  It's easier to buy a gun than it is to get a driver's license in the US.  Good for them.  


I tend to believe in a civilized society, we don't need to have guns in our homes.  But then again, the US is 24th in the world for murders, 0.042802 per 1000 people, ahead of countries like Mexico and Columbia.


Canada is 44th in the world, just ahead of Australia, with 0.0149063 per 1000 people.   Great Britain, where the average constable doesn't even carry a firearm has even less murders.  


So who are the dumb asses?  


In a country where school shootings are common-place, where ten year old boys kill their mother when they're pissed off, where small children accidentally kill their play dates, with guns, you'd think that perhaps the country as a whole wouldn't be so keen on the 2nd Amendment.  (Which was written in a different era, not to mention).  


Maybe they should worry more about their crappy economy, their lack of health care, their crime rates instead of being worried about the demise of their right to bear arms.  


Just my opinion of course.


God Bless Canada.