Are Guns Inherently Unsafe?

[walleye]

My friends - including non-gunners - and I are pretty live and let live as far as guns, none of us are fanatics in any form - so I don't get into much discussion about guns. But awhile ago a couple I know well expressed bewilderment that I could live in such proximity to something so unsafe as a gun which was made to kill and wound. They couldn't understand and were not "against" anything. This is what I told them:

To understand guns and safety look at cars. If they were to stand and watch either a car that is parked or a loaded gun on a table all their lives waiting for something dangerous to happen - the only result would be they would be among the few people to die of old age standing up. Meanwhile the parked car and the loaded gun would still be sitting there doing nothing. I.E, Guns Are Safe.

Their purpose? A cars proper purposes: transportation and recreation, sport ( i.e. car-races) and the saving of human life - i.e. fast transport of sick and injured or emergency responders, equipment etc. Cars can be involved in death and injury but in relation to total use that is small in number and is almost always user-caused, not car-caused - and their ultimate purpose is not to kill and injure. Safe-use and maintenance will keep our cars safe.

The proper purposes of guns: recreation and sport (range and target), hunting which involves food for consumption for most hunters and the saving of human life - the last in 2 forms: civilian use to save one's own life from a lethal attack and police use to save the community's lives. When used for THAT purpose it is to STOP death - and civilians and police would be most happy if it did that with no or little injury to anyone and still caused the lethal attack to stop. But that choice is sometimes not in their hands but lies elsewhere. Guns can involve death and injury, but in relation to total use that number is small and almost always user-caused not gun-caused and their ultimate purpose is not to kill and injure. Safe-use and maintenance will keep one's guns safe.


My friends said this made things clearer for them and appreciated my explanation.

So, FYI.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[chiefjason]

Lots of things are inherently dangerous. What makes them unsafe is how they are used. Guns are one of those things. Anything that you need to take great care handling or using is generally dangerous. Taking the care needed to do it right, is considered being safe.

[retsupt99]

Are guns dangerous? Why of course they are...I wouldn't carry one if they weren't.
Guns are simply tools...many tools have safety factors involving correct use.

[kelcarry]

Good answer Chief. Cars and firearms, used incorrectly or recklessly, are equally dangerous to anyone. I would venture to say that on a normalized statistical basis, there are probably more injuries and deaths caused by cars than by firearms. I do not have the actual statistics but common sense tends to tell me that owners of firearms, by and large, have a greater appreciation of what they are handling than car drivers, who do not look at their vehicle as an item that is meant to inflict injury or death to whatever and can more easily dismiss their behaviour as dangerous. If anything, to answer the question, guns are not unsafe---they have safeties, they can be locked and inoperable, they require some legal/criminal oversight when being purchased etal. If the cretin who is using same disregards all the safety features HE IS UNSAFE, not the gun. Same goes for cars.

[Secret Spuk]

People are inherently unsafe.

[SFury]

Hammers are inherently dangerous too. Obviously, some tools are more likely to cause injury than others if not used safely, but there is nothing more or less dangerous about any tool that is not in the hands of a person.

People need to remember that the person behind the tool is what makes it safe, or dangerous.

[archer51]

As the OP pointed out, guns themselves are not dangerous. It's the unsafe handling of them that makes them dangerous. The one thing I would have pointed out to his friends was that they stand a much larger risk of being killed or seriously injured in their car, than they do from a gun.

[BugDude]

In my debates with our local anti-gun newspaper columnist, I've quoted CDC statistics on causes of death many times. From an accidental death standpoint, more people die on bicycles accidentally than by guns. Cars outweigh more than anything.

[walleye]

As the OP pointed out, guns themselves are not dangerous. It's the unsafe handling of them that makes them dangerous. The one thing I would have pointed out to his friends was that they stand a much larger risk of being killed or seriously injured in their car, than they do from a gun.

Right.

[jerry12]

A well made gun is safe but the people using that gun may not be safe.

[Gene83]

dangerous - adj. able or likely to inflict injury or harm...

Pretty much sounds like what a gun was designed to do. Thank goodness for that. I wouldn't have one if it was intended to do something else like hammer nails.

[wmhawth]

The proper purposes of guns: recreation and sport (range and target), hunting which involves food for consumption for most hunters and the saving of human life - the last in 2 forms: civilian use to save one's own life from a lethal attack and police use to save the community's lives. When used for THAT purpose it is to STOP death - and civilians and police would be most happy if it did that with no or little injury to anyone and still caused the lethal attack to stop. But that choice is sometimes not in their hands but lies elsewhere. Guns can involve death and injury, but in relation to total use that number is small and almost always user-caused not gun-caused and their ultimate purpose is not to kill and injure. Safe-use and maintenance will keep one's guns safe.


My friends said this made things clearer for them and appreciated my explanation.

Sounds as if you did a great job explaining to your friends. Guns of course are unsafe as are chain saws, bicycles, cars, and a host of other things including sex if used carelessly or mindlessly and without proper instruction and training.

[Arborigine]

There have been dangerous guns. The kind that blow up in your hand. Aside from that it is only a tool.
Guns don't kill people, bullets do.

[9MMare]

A gun is not inherently dangerous.

A lion is inherently dangerous.

[Hopyard]

Gun designs vary a great deal and some are more inherently likely to be unsafe than others. In general, I think the manufacturers could improve things to reduce negligent discharges and true accidental discharges.