Every single child is at some point burned. Either from a pot of water, or an iron, or water from the faucet that is too hot. This is how we learn what “hot” is. It is an accident, the problem is that the children do not know what hot is until it happens. Every day automobile accidents happen. Every single day firemen peel metal away to recover the body of the now deceased teenager. Every single day.
People take the wrong medication, thinking they are grabbing one and instead get the other. They add the wrong ingredient to a recipe by accident. They trip, fall, stumble, stub their toes. Accidents happen, it is why we call them accidents.
Guns are no different. If everyone followed the rules of the road, proper following distance, obeyed speed laws, did not drive too fast for conditions, we would reduce but not eliminate accidents. Cars would still hit some debris on the road, slide on a patch of wet pavement, or oil on the pavement. If people followed every single rule of safety with a gun, then accidents would be reduced, but not eliminated.
The people who argue we should ban cars do so because of the environmental impact of the internal combustion engine. They do not argue that so many people are injured or killed in cars. They don’t argue that Motorcycles are inherently more dangerous, so we should ban them. This despite the fact that Doctors call Motorcyles Donorcycles.
Private planes fall out of the sky, and kill the people inside, and occasionally someone on the ground. But we still allow people to fly planes don’t we?
A gun is a tool, like a hammer. Even when it is used properly there is a chance you can be injured. It is why they advise you to wear safety glasses and gloves when using a hammer. People cut their limbs off with chain saws, because they aren’t careful enough, and because there is some danger involved. Yet we don’t argue that chainsaws, hammers, or pry bars should be banned.
Only with Guns do we argue that we should get rid of the tool. Why? Why is it that guns occupy a special place in our language? Guns are useful, and if used properly can provide a great service to the one wielding it. But like a hammer, you can make a mistake even if you have been using one for years, or decades, and smash your thumb.
Some argue, with some merit, that accidental discharges should be called negligent discharges. They have a point. But accidental discharge does not mean you did something stupid, or you did not make a mistake. It means you did not intend for the result to happen. Just as when you are driving around listening to loud music with friends going a little fast, you did not intend to slam into the other car. Just as while you are cursing and shaking your hand you did not intend to smash your thumb with the hammer.
Accidents happen, we can reduce, but never eliminate them. That’s the sad truth.
