They were invented for warfare and/or hunting applications. They were invented specifically to kill or maim or otherwise cause grievous bodily harm. BY DEFINITION.
Why do YOU think they were invented?
Hunting weapons have the death of a game animal as their specific intended purpose.
Guns designed for shooting sports are meant to strike non-living objects and never cause a bit of harm to a living organism.
Guns designed for self defense do cause grievous harm and even death, but that is not the intended purpose of the guns. It is only an unfortunate side effect.
A defensive shooting where the bad guy survived to stand trial but was prevented from harming anyone is a successful defense despite no lives being lost.
A defensive shooting where the bad guy was fatally wounded but went on to murder an entire family before succumbing to his wounds is a failed defense despite the bad guy being killed.
I honestly cannot get enough of this sentence. PRO GUNS and PRO LIFE.
It's almost as if this is one giant Poe's Law sentence.
When guns are used to defend people from murderers, guns save lives.
Why do you think police officers carry guns?
You think you could stand up to the modern US military armed only with what you can buy at Wal Mart? Good luck!
Who said anything about being limited to what you can buy at Wal Mart?
Militiamen have the right to have grenades and bazookas and full-auto weapons.
Of course, perhaps if the courts one day start enforcing this right, Wal Mart will start selling grenades and bazookas and full-auto weapons.
The US decided back in the 1960's to shutter and close up the "mental institutions". It was JFK's dream to move mental health back to a more supportive community-based system. Only problem was that as time went on America did the "cost savings" part by de-institutionalizing (and ELIMINATING AVAILABLE BEDS) of the mentally ill but never followed up with putting money into community mental health care initiatives.
Finally in the 1980's Ronald Reagan helped complete the process and now today America has a massive mental health crisis which we are dealing with by simply turning them loose to fend for themselves in a society that couldn't care less about them.
While I agree with your assessment that our society is not taking good care of our mentally ill today, those institutions of the past were hardly kind and caring places for the mentally ill to live out their lives.
Our society spent as little on the mentally ill back in the days of mental institutions as we spend on them today. The only real difference is that back then the mentally ill were kept out of sight so we didn't have to confront the way that we were neglecting them.
Well, thank heavens there's not a WOMAN'S BODY that is required for all of this!
There are pro-life women too. It's not just all men.
I think the pro-choice movement would have gotten more support from men if they had ever acknowledged that men do have a vital interest in whether they become a father or not.
The notion that it's none of a man's business whether or not he becomes a father doesn't sit well with some men.
Or, as men who skip out on child support like to say: "No Uterus No Opinion?? No Opinion No Obligation!!"