ARGUMENT: Drunk people don't cause mass murder and they don't kill a bunch of school kids in a mass murder.
Answer: In 1988 a drunk driver killed 24 youth and 3 adults on a bus. The bus was filled with 67 people (63 of them youth) who were on their way home from a church trip to an amusement park. (WCPO: Carrollton bus crash killed 27 shocked tri-state in 1988)
ARGUMENT: A bottle of alcohol never directly killed someone.
Answer: Absolutely correct. A gun never directly killed someone, either. The bottle of alcohol is actually a perfect analogy for a gun. Here is how it works:
Alcohol = Bullets
Bottle = Magazine
Person = Gun
*The bullets (alcohol) go into the magazine (bottle) and the loaded magazine (alcohol bottle) goes into the gun (is consumed by the drinker).
A gun is not in a state of potentially deadly consequences untill you put the bullets in the magazine and load the magazine into the gun. Just like the gun, alcohol is not in a state of potentially deadly consequences until you put the alcohol in the bottle and the person consumes it.
Once the alcohol is consumed the person is now a "loaded weapon". At this point it is up to the person if they will be responsible and not abuse the use of alcohol. Will the person get behind the wheel of a car? Will the person drink themselves to death? Will the person allow an alcoholic rage to take over? These questions are analogous to the same questions asked of someone who is carrying a loaded a weapon. Will they shoot someone without probable cause? Will they shoot themselves on purpose or on accident? Will they go to a school, bar, or other public place to take countless lives?
Alcohol = Bullets
Bottle = Magazine
Person = Gun
*The bullets (alcohol) go into the magazine (bottle) and the loaded magazine (alcohol bottle) goes into the gun (is consumed by the drinker).
A gun is not in a state of potentially deadly consequences untill you put the bullets in the magazine and load the magazine into the gun. Just like the gun, alcohol is not in a state of potentially deadly consequences until you put the alcohol in the bottle and the person consumes it.
Once the alcohol is consumed the person is now a "loaded weapon". At this point it is up to the person if they will be responsible and not abuse the use of alcohol. Will the person get behind the wheel of a car? Will the person drink themselves to death? Will the person allow an alcoholic rage to take over? These questions are analogous to the same questions asked of someone who is carrying a loaded a weapon. Will they shoot someone without probable cause? Will they shoot themselves on purpose or on accident? Will they go to a school, bar, or other public place to take countless lives?
No inanimate object ever killed anyone. The person in control of the object did.
ARGUMENT: WE DON'T WANT ALL GUNS BANNED. JUST ASSAULT WEAPONS LIKE THE AR-15.
The general public believes these weapons are more powerful and more deadly than other weapons. This comes from the fact that some of these weapons (like the AR-15) were specifically built for the military.
What would happen if we banned the most potent alcohol in the world: Distilled Spirits/Liquor? Do you think this will stop drunk drivers? Will it stop alcohol fueled rage, domestic abuse, and alcohol poisoning? No. All this do is require he individual to change their preferred choice of drink. Maybe they start drinking endless amounts of wine to get the same buzz they have long enjoyed.
The same effect is what will happen if weapons like the AR-15 are banned. If somehow all assault weapons were successfully removed from the United States (something that is completely impossible with the existence of the black market) people who wish to commit mass murders will simply chose the next best weapon. This could be a shot gun, pistols, or other rifles which are just as deadly as assault weapons (depending on the shooters training and experience).
Additionally, thinking that a smaller magazine will result in less death is also not supported by the facts. If we make beer bottles smaller will it be any harder for someone to get drunk? On average most would considered the "normal" magazine size for a weapon to hold 10 bullets. Even an untrained person that knows how to remove and insert a magazine can still do so in a matter of seconds. It would not take much for someone to carry one magazine in the weapon plus two more on their body still giving them 30 rounds. Our research has shown that the quantity of bullets does not directly result in more death but that the shooters experience, training, quantity of available targets, and first responder response time does.
What would happen if we banned the most potent alcohol in the world: Distilled Spirits/Liquor? Do you think this will stop drunk drivers? Will it stop alcohol fueled rage, domestic abuse, and alcohol poisoning? No. All this do is require he individual to change their preferred choice of drink. Maybe they start drinking endless amounts of wine to get the same buzz they have long enjoyed.
The same effect is what will happen if weapons like the AR-15 are banned. If somehow all assault weapons were successfully removed from the United States (something that is completely impossible with the existence of the black market) people who wish to commit mass murders will simply chose the next best weapon. This could be a shot gun, pistols, or other rifles which are just as deadly as assault weapons (depending on the shooters training and experience).
Additionally, thinking that a smaller magazine will result in less death is also not supported by the facts. If we make beer bottles smaller will it be any harder for someone to get drunk? On average most would considered the "normal" magazine size for a weapon to hold 10 bullets. Even an untrained person that knows how to remove and insert a magazine can still do so in a matter of seconds. It would not take much for someone to carry one magazine in the weapon plus two more on their body still giving them 30 rounds. Our research has shown that the quantity of bullets does not directly result in more death but that the shooters experience, training, quantity of available targets, and first responder response time does.