Guns Kill People

A popular meme says:

So if guns kill people, I guess pencils misspell words, cars drive drunk, and spoons make people fat.

Guns are designed to kill, pencils are not designed to misspell words, cars are not designed to drive drunk, and spoons are not designed to make people fat. But guns are designed to kill. That’s their purpose. These things are not equivalent.

When guns are used to kill people it is a crime. When a pencil is used to misspell a word it is a mistake. When cars are operated by drunk drivers it’s a crime. And when spoons are used to overeat it’s an unwise choice. Notice that only two of these things kill people, and therefore are crimes. But only one of these things is designed to do so

Just as you need to have a license to drive a car, you should need to have a license to own a gun. And for the same reason. Both can kill people if they are misused. And just as drunk drivers lose their license if they drive drunk, people who are mentally or criminally dangerous should lose their license to own a gun.