by Photon on April 7th, 2007

Question

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Do guns kill people or do people kill people? (not leaning to either side)

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Answers. 153 helpful answers below.

by Astrophel on April 7th, 2007
A gun, is an inanimate, thoughtless tool. It is without intention, and without 'purpose' (in the sense of forethought). It is the person who wields the weapon who acts with intention to use it to harm or even kill another, sometimes with prior plan and forethought. Guns simply make the harming/killing of another easier, or 'more convenient'. They provide a means to an end, but are not in fact the thing that 'kills' another.

Guns were invented by men, for the purposes of killing others with greater ease. Guns do not kill people, people kill people.
Comments
- good long answer. +2!
  
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  by El Fabrizio on April 7th, 2007
- I'll raise you 5!
  
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  by Anonymous on August 17th, 2007
- Me too!
  
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  by Meow Meow 1BadMutha TBMF on August 19th, 2007
- Points. I would add that swords were designed to kill people WHEN USED BY PEOPLE. Also, many other items have been used to kill people WHEN USED BY PEOPLE. More people are killed in swimming pools each year than are accidentally killed by guns. So, register swimming pools.
  
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  by judgebill on April 17th, 2008
- i agree +5,is that swimming pool fact true?
  
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  by BOOZE HOUND... nothing is nonsence on June 7th, 2008
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by The Chief on April 3rd, 2011
So far, I have yet to see, or hear of, any marauding packs of villainous guns mowing people down.

This site is dedicated to 24 hour observation of an assault rifle to see if it ever spontaneously jumps up and kills anyone:

http://www.assaultweaponwatch.com/

To date, about seven years of round-the-clock video coverage of the assault rifle has produced not ONE example of spontaneous human assault.

:):)
Comments
- That's only because she knows we're watching her.
  
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  by ConservativelyLiberal on April 12th, 2011
- HAHAHAHAHAHA!
  
  Could be...
  
  :):)
  
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  by The Chief on April 12th, 2011
- That is absolutely fantastic. I am saving that link.
  
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  by Arisztid on July 7th, 2011
- I laughed my butt off when I first found it!
  
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  by The Chief on July 7th, 2011
- For your further entertainment, I persent you with this object lesson on the difference between "bullets" and "cartridges":
  
  :):)
  
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  by The Chief on July 7th, 2011
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by Tom Slick on April 3rd, 2011
neither ... bullets kill people ...
Comments
- The last time I threw a bullet at someone it bounced off of them. It takes a person to pull the trigger
  
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  by flustered420 on April 3rd, 2011
- you're taking it too literally ... it wasn't meant as a serious answer ... I felt it was a ridiculous question, so I gave a ridiculous answer
  
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  by Tom Slick on April 3rd, 2011
- What if I used a slingshot? You think I could kill a person with a giant slingshot and a bullet? I wonder if the Pentagon has any info on that. hmmm..... :)
  
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  by Sodapop on April 3rd, 2011
- Ahhh sarcasm... :)
  
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  by flustered420 on April 4th, 2011
- but they have to be propelled somehow, if there is no propellant there won't be any injury.
  
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  by bluft on April 12th, 2011
- They could always die of lead poisoning.....
  
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  by LarryH54 on April 12th, 2011
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=looZ83SePrk
  
  This is the most graphic death by slingshot video I could find. Enjoy!
  
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  by flustered420 on April 12th, 2011
- A gun can kill a person... like a rifle but or a pistol whipping...or as Exhibit A in a state that has capital punishment.
  
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  by TallJasperMan on April 14th, 2011
- So you are saying if a bullet cost $1,000 a person may think twice about pulling the trigger?
  
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  by mikedsign on July 7th, 2011
- Not if you're Bill Gates
  
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  by flustered420 on July 19th, 2011
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by jaindough on April 3rd, 2011
I was at the firing range this morning with both people, and their guns; nobody died.
Warped minds kill people.
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- HOORAA!!!!
  
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  by bluft on April 12th, 2011
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by Anonymous on April 7th, 2007
Both, but not exclusive of one another.

People kill people, but they use the gun as a means to kill people, so in this context, the gun does kill people.
Take away the person with the finger on the trigger though, and the gun cannot kill people, as it is inanimate and does not think for itself.
Bring back the person and take away the gun. If that person still wants to kill people, they'll find a way regardless of whether they have a gun or not.

So yes, in some contexts guns do kill people, but in reality, it is the person behind the gun that kills people, even if the gun itself fires the fatal bullet.
Comments
- A sensible answer!
  
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  by Anonymous on August 17th, 2007
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by katie on April 3rd, 2011
People kill people.
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by Brian on August 31st, 2009
How about "Guns dont kill people, guns help people kill people?"
Comments
- WEll so does a knife, or a car, or poison, or anything you can get your hands on.
  
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  by 08Busa on August 31st, 2009
- There would be far less if there were less guns +5
  
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  by evandad on August 31st, 2009
- No there wouldnt, not even a little, the only ones that wouldn't get guns would be the good ones.
  
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  by 08Busa on August 31st, 2009
- Yep, and a saying can be made about each of those weapons, too. I'm not against guns, BTW.
  +5
  
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  by Brian on August 31st, 2009
- I am against them, thats why I collect them, so I can keep them out of the hands of others, LMFAO.
  
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  by 08Busa on August 31st, 2009
- Funny.
  As I understand it, the Japanese decided not to invade the U.S. because they knew that the citizens owned firearms. There are both good and bad points to allowing anyone to have them.
  
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  by Brian on August 31st, 2009
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by Wynper on August 30th, 2009
A gun is an inanimate object. It cannot commit murder. Without a person a gun cannot kill.

Okay, so I suppose that isn't completely true. I have heard stories about weapons being discharged by hunting dogs and perhaps a monkey could...ummm never mind.
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- ...and perhaps a monkey could...what?? :)
  
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  by bLOGGER on September 14th, 2009
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by hitokaji on April 3rd, 2011
guns dont pull their own trigger...
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by RefreshPerspective on April 3rd, 2011
People kill people. With guns.
Comments
- And knives. And cars. And bare hands. And drugs. And . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  
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  by canoeguide on April 3rd, 2011
- The question is about guns.
  
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  by RefreshPerspective on April 3rd, 2011
- Wrong. It was a flawed either/or question.
  
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  by canoeguide on April 3rd, 2011
- Regardless, it was limited to people and guns.
  
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  by RefreshPerspective on April 4th, 2011
- Not clearly enough stated as such; in today's society there are far too many loosely worded, leading questions kicking about. Questions which are based on the excluded middle are fundamentally flawed.
  
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  by canoeguide on April 4th, 2011
- Not necessarily. That is only true if the question is asked for the purpose of getting accurate information. One doesn't ask an obviously loaded question like this to get information. Rather, one does so to convey an opinion, perhaps more subtlely than stating it outright. It is quite obvious that Michelle didn't ask this question to find out whether it is guns or people who kill people. Rather, she asked it to express her opinion on guns in an appropriate way for this site. I simply answered the question in a way to humor her. If she had asked "Do stones kill people or people kill people?" I would have probably answered with a parallel "People kill people. With stones." I didn't call her out on how loaded her question is because she is almost certainly aware of it.
  
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  by RefreshPerspective on April 4th, 2011
- Far too many are totally unaware of asking/stating things in a skewed manner.
  
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  by canoeguide on April 4th, 2011
- That's the thing. It's sometimes hard to tell if they are genuinely unaware, or just trying to express their opinion in a question form. I usually just assume the latter and give a suitably laconic answer. Unless I happen to agree with their opinion, of course.
  
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  by RefreshPerspective on April 4th, 2011
- Again, it might be an honest opinion poorly stated; it might be a baiting question with no intent whatever of any semblance of rational discourse.
  
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  by canoeguide on April 5th, 2011
- AND CARS AND ROPES AND KNIVES AND HANDSAND VASES AND STATUES,ETC.BUT PEOPLE HAVE TO BE ON THE DISHING OUT END.
  
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  by Joan_O7985 on April 17th, 2011
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by megcham on April 3rd, 2011
You can still kill someone without a gun, guns just make it easier.
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by Spacys back on August 31st, 2009
people will kill people......take away the gun and he will pick up a rock +5
Comments
- ..that's why I always avoid rock concerts.
  btw,how many lion cubs do you have now?
  
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  by bLOGGER on September 14th, 2009
- haha i on the other hand avoid the clubs as im not fond of being clubbed lol.
  we have three cubs 2males and a female at the moment
  
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  by Spacys back on September 14th, 2009
- Spacy,I like your SOH.
  You have 3 lion cubs...that's amazing!!! Where do you keep them?..do they have the run of the house,or do you own a small wildlife park? Lion cubs are reasonably cute when babies,but what happens when they grow up into fully-grown adult lions?
  
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  by bLOGGER on September 15th, 2009
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by Midnighttoker on August 17th, 2007
people kill people. never seen a gun that could pull the trigger itself.
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- Now THAT would freak me out! A self killing gun would scare me more than the clowns in my nightmares!
  
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  by FOR3SKIN500 is remembering one more on August 17th, 2007
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by umibonko on June 30th, 2007
well, i think people do, because the gun has no 'brain', so it can't think, and therefore, the person who pulls the trigger, is in control...
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by doodlethenoodle on April 7th, 2007
guns don't kill people, and neither do people. greed, lies, and twisted values kill people.
Comments
- oooo good and unexpected. +2!
  
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  by El Fabrizio on April 7th, 2007
- thank you.
  
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  by doodlethenoodle on April 7th, 2007
- Nice!!
  
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  by Anonymous on August 17th, 2007
- Stewie_G, thank you, but just to remind you you still haven't apologized for throwing the death of my friend in my face a couple months back. apologize, and i will forgive you and we can put it behind us.
  
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  by doodlethenoodle on August 20th, 2007
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by MisterKnowItAll on April 3rd, 2011
People kill people. Guns just make it a whole lot easier for them to do so.
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by blahblah99 on April 3rd, 2011
Guns kill people. Because guns are living things that stalk people with vengeance.
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- Nothing more dangerous than a wounded Uzi....
  
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  by jaindough on April 3rd, 2011
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by PrivateGomerSpooner on August 31st, 2009
Nut jobs will still find ways to get guns.
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by Alex P. Keaton on August 30th, 2009
Personally, I believe bullets kill more people than guns.
Comments
- I'm sure people have gotten pistol whipped to death, beaten and bludgeoned with rifles, and stabbed by rifles having bayonets.
  
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  by mikedsign on July 7th, 2011
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by cobber on September 19th, 2008
actually, it is the lack of oxygen supplied to the brain that kills people. but the oxygen is carried by blood, and blood is supplied by the heart, and the blood might be leaving through a "hole" in the body, and the hole was created by a bullet, and the bullet was propelled from an explosion, and the explosion was created by gun powder, and gun powder was ignighted by a gun, and the gun was fired by.....a person. And that person was raised by other people, and taught by other people, and watched violence on television, and heard about violence in music, and was born into a race with a very long history of violence.

so blame whoever or whatever you want. without addressing what the real issues is, you will never solve the problem.
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- Thanks for sharing your thoughts Cobber:D
  +6
  
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  by AmorousLilith on September 19th, 2008
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by LiLDoe on June 30th, 2007
Yes people kill people but we created the gun to do just that. It was not invented to do hunting as some books stated it was intended for war times as a way to kill more people/indians. The musket had a bayonett on the end of it for when they ran out of ammo & for those close encounters. PLEASE PEOPLE INVENTED THIS TO KILL PEOPLE
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- Could you please direct me to the source of your info.
  
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  by FOR3SKIN500 is remembering one more on August 17th, 2007
- LiLDoe says people invented guns to kill people. I look at it differently. I think people invented guns to keep other people from killing them.
  
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  by IndianaJesusfreak on May 19th, 2011
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by Vanilla_Yum on April 7th, 2007
Guns don't kill people. People use guns as tools in order to succeed in killing another person. If guns weren't used by people, they wouldn't be able to kill anybody.
Comments
- im gunna have to disagree with that. wut if the gun in question had a really loose trigger? then violent hail or wind or anything of the such cud set it off repeatedly.
  
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  by El Fabrizio on April 7th, 2007
- yeah, and what are the chances that somebody would leave a gun with a loose trigger out in the violent wind and hale? and that the direction the gun was facing when the violent wind and hale came just happened to be pointing at a person who just happened to walk by at exactly that time in the halestorm?
  
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  by doodlethenoodle on April 7th, 2007
- hey im not saying its a definite answer. just a probability. just like "wuts the probability of someone getting struck by lightning 4 times in a row and live?" its probably like 1 in 1000000 trillion but the chance is still there.
  
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  by El Fabrizio on April 7th, 2007
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by Anon on April 7th, 2007
People kill people. Guns just make it easier
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by Rollie on April 3rd, 2011
People kill people with lots more things than guns. Motor vehicles tops the list by far.

Gun need people in order to be used for killing!
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by Marky Mark on April 3rd, 2011
Guns make it easier and more likely for people to kill people.

Guns give cowards the balls they don't normally have.
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by Zenrean on April 3rd, 2011
People kill people.
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by josie III on September 14th, 2009
People have been killing people since LONG before guns were invented. Therefore, the statement is true.
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- Josie: have +2 points for your historical perspective.
  
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  by bLOGGER on September 15th, 2009
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by That Guy Again on August 31st, 2009
Very true.
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by Jen-Jen on August 31st, 2009
No the news, government, and television kill people by scaring the sh*t of us and forcing us to constantly leave in fear.
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- Which makes pulling that trigger easier than you'll ever believe.
  
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  by Jen-Jen on August 31st, 2009
- Does that mean that JFK smoked himself; or was he killed by a New York Times reporter?
  
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  by bLOGGER on September 14th, 2009
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by shady on August 31st, 2009
blaming guns for killing people is like blaming a pencel for mispelled word
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by RC loves ice cream on August 30th, 2009
Guns don't kill people, people kill people...... people with guns.
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- (from a song by Freddy Mercury & Queen)
  
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  by RC loves ice cream on August 30th, 2009
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by Peetee on September 19th, 2008
I hear that people were killing each other even before guns were invented. Why, the man on the TV said that even now, some people are using big knives to do the job.

Errr, that means, "True".
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- Thanks Peetee:D
  +6
  
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  by AmorousLilith on September 19th, 2008
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by Have A Smurfy Day on September 19th, 2008
True. A gun lying on the floor with noone pulling the trigger would kill noone. However a person, with or without a gun, is capable of killing.
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- Thanks Smurfy :D
  +6
  
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  by AmorousLilith on September 19th, 2008
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by Blackberry. on September 19th, 2008
Couldn't be more true. You need a person to pull the trigger, press the button, pull the lever etc. The best safety for a weapon the person holding it obviously. If you want to get really deep, with any weapon really you need a person to make it kill someone. That goes for a fork, a car, a poisonous substance... It is all people doing it.
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- I have to agree with Blackberry... even when it is "accidental", there are still "people" to find responsible whether it be because of not being educated in gun safety, an adult leaving it accessible and loaded for a child, or just plan human error.
  
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  by BadPurplePony on September 19th, 2008
- Thanks for sharing your thoughts Blackberry:D
  +6
  
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  by AmorousLilith on September 19th, 2008
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by Takei-Shihan on June 30th, 2007
Weapons of any sort are just the tools or the means to commit a violent crime such as killing.
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by Mr n Mrs M... on June 30th, 2007
Rappers do! Call the police WOO WOO WOO !
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by Harro Mique on April 7th, 2007
People kill other people using guns.So both.
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by Timjon on April 3rd, 2011
People kill people. Guns are only the means.
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by Sodapop on April 3rd, 2011
People kill people. Using a gun makes killing other people much easier.. faster even.
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by Simmo80 on April 3rd, 2011
The guns pull the trigger themselves when they are angry.

They also jump into people's hands..
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- Damn guns :)
  
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  by bluft on April 12th, 2011
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by Prunesquallor on April 3rd, 2011
People kill people, but guns make it very easy.
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by Judge Dreed on April 3rd, 2011
People do!
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by Girl4Nowhere on September 14th, 2009
People make decisions and gun is just a weapon. If there were no guns, someone would be using some other weapon that could kill. Therefore, I agree with that statement.
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by Rude Bear Ready for Winter on August 31st, 2009
Guns just make it easier.
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- Not really, you can walk up to someone and stick them with a knife just as easy, or hit them with a car.
  
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  by 08Busa on August 31st, 2009
- pulling a trigger from across the street is easier than approaching and stabbing....
  
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  by Rude Bear Ready for Winter on August 31st, 2009
- No its not, you have never fired a gun have you.
  
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  by 08Busa on August 31st, 2009
- Trained cops will spray lead at someone 50 feet away, 100 rounds of ammo go through the guns, and the guy still runs off.
  
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  by 08Busa on August 31st, 2009
- 1. Yes, I have fired a gun before.
  2. Yawn.
  3. Unsubscribe.
  
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  by Rude Bear Ready for Winter on September 1st, 2009
- What kind of gun was it?
  
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  by bLOGGER on September 14th, 2009
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by tractorgirl on August 31st, 2009
It's true. There is no auto shoot button on a gun. Somebody's gotta pull the trigger.
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- tractorgirl,you are so right.
  I firmly believe that anyone who keeps a monkey as a pet should keep it well away from the gunrack at all times..just imagine telling the bench: "It wasn't me that pulled the trigger,your Honour,it was my monkey.."
  
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  by bLOGGER on September 14th, 2009
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by - alluseek - on August 30th, 2009
a true statement.
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by rustyrazor on September 19th, 2008
This is one of those silly aphorisms that diverts the focus from the real situation. Everyone knows that guns need someone to pull the trigger but guns really were made to kill things, it's not like they were invented for target practice purposes only.

Here's an alternative statement.

People use guns to kill people. People also use other weapons to kill people.
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- Thanks for sharing Rusty:D
  +6
  
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  by AmorousLilith on September 19th, 2008
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by omega divine on September 19th, 2008
if a child accidentally shoots him/herself and dies. id say the gun did the work.

people do kill people, sometimes without guns... guns just make it easier.

true.
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- Thanks Omega:D
  +6
  
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  by AmorousLilith on September 19th, 2008
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by DreAnna on August 17th, 2007
People kill people :)
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by Cannabis its just a plant on August 17th, 2007
People
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