I realize i'm responding to posts 2½ years old; but I like to participate, OK?
Ask American gun lovers why they own a gun and the most common response is "Because I CAN!" What does this even mean? Some are hobbyists and/or like to go target practicing. Do they think stamp-collecting and archery ought to be protected in the Bill of Rights?
The Second Amendment is obsolescent and has become quite perverse. I realize there are other countries with many guns — though NONE come anywhere close to the U.S.A. — but do any of these have this stupid and obscene obsession? Has another country enshrined them in a Bill of Rights?
Nobody even knows what the Second Amendment is for. Protect us from the modern version of the British Redcoats? Who would that be anyway? The Democratic pedophiles doing business in a pizzeria basement who needed to be AR-15'ed? The Senators and Congressmen who needed to be taken out on the Sixth of January?
My viewpoint seldom coincides with Dr. Z's, but he hits it on the nail here:
It sounds like Finns have adult attitudes about guns, though laws also helped.
Grow up, America!
When I was young there were over 50k annual deaths from auto accidents in the U.S.A. IIRC. That's a lot.
This high death rate was a big deal! And, contrary to Mr. Bank's weird perspective, it was NOT a political issue. That death rate is much lower now, thanks to seatbelts, drinking laws, air-bags, etc. etc.
And now we have this huge number of deaths ... from
GUNS! Solution
should be much simpler than the auto death problem.
Here's Sean Penn showing the way from one of my favorite movies:
"This is how it's done. This is how you put a gun down." (Ooops. Sean Penn is speaking Italian(?) in this clip. Maybe a better Googler can find the English version on-line. Any Italians(?) to confirm I've rendered Penn's words properly?)
ETA: I found an English-language clip of that scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB8dL1mgBLc
It opens with Nicole Kidman complaining that she can't put her gun down. About the 0:50 mark Penn shows her how to do it.
So, the main arguments about the positive effects of guns don't hold up. They give all of the negative side effects without offering any of the potential benefits to offset those side effects.
Correct. Guns are bad — it's not complicated. America needs to grow up.
No matter how much you enjoy seeing poor kids fight over drug money, the facts are the same: if nobody has guns, nobody needs guns.
Yes. One marvels at their stupidity that this has to be explained to American adults. And, even if explained, they still don't get it.
Old age kills 100% of people that have not already been killed by something else.
What do you want to take away from people to prevent that?
Hunh??

"Don't bother giving your kid antibiotics, ma'am. He's probably going to die in 70 or 80 years anyway." Did this meme come from FoxNews, NRA, or what?
If you got rid of all the guns, yes those type accidents would go down. But would this be worth getting rid of the 2nd amendment?
Some say yes and some say no. I believe it is a judgement call whether a slight chance of an accident (probably lower than being struck by lightning) is worth the loss of liberty.
Considering the relative low level of risk vs a substantial amount of personal liberty lost, keeping the guns is probably worth it. But I do agree with the OP being correct that there is a cost. Its just that the cost is worth the liberty we still have. The same liberty other countries have already lost.
I've taken the liberty (

) of highlighting a word Mr. Vonse likes to use.
But what does "liberty" mean? I have the
liberty of walking around, letting my kids play outside, and even getting angry without fear of getting shot. Lots of countries have that
liberty,
But the U.S.A. has LOST that liberty
I ask why guns are
liberty, and get referred to the Second Amendment. It's a circular argument. As a thought experiment, I'd like the gun nuts to write an essay on how they would feel if the Second Amendment were rewritten so instead of being about guns it was about the
liberty to walk down Main Street juggling balls and waggling one's penis. To listen to gun-nut prattle, it would then be penis-waggling that would be the quintessential American
liberty.