There were not more murders by hammers than long guns -- there were more murders by hammers and clubs and other blunt objects than with long guns. This is a silly discussion, because hammers are made for a special useful purpose, driving nails; a few of them may have been used to kill people but I would bet a large amount of money (to refute your silly point) that the other weapons in the category (clubs and other blunt objects) were used more than hammers. So it's not "hammers killed more people, period." Allll kinds of things can be used for murdering people, including hammers, sticks, ropes, kitchen knives, fists, gasoline, etc. But only one of the things we're talking about are specifically designed, built and intended to be used to kill people, and those are semi-automatic weapons -- rifles and handguns. They are absolutely unnecessary for any recreational purpose that couldn't be done with much slower-acting guns, single-shots, double-barreled shotguns, bolt-action rifles and revolvers, and as I said somewhere else, the fantasy that these slobs could use their weapons to prevent a government tyranny is a fantasy. Scores of people are murdered every year because of this stupid, silly fantasy. The weapons are used for murder and to intimidate neighbors and fellow citizens. We had a guy show up at a meeting here with an open carry semi-auto pistol worn on his belt, which is legal, but it was known in advance that there would be some hot tempers at this meeting, though nobody expected any kind of physical violence, and his presence scared everybody including the cops and the people who were technically on his side in the discussion. And that was the intent. Whose idea of democracy is that?
Rifles and handguns together were responsible for more than 14,000 murders in 2018. These weapons make it possible for a single person to kill masses of people, because that's what they're well-designed to do. Very, very few other things accessible to crazy people will do that -- bombs are one, as Tim McVeigh proved on Oklahoma City, and I would point out that he was encouraged in his work by the very same kind of people who are marching around with the AR-15 style rifles, the right-wing anti-government crazies.
Here is what I said, originally, no need to repeat the entire thing with every post.
So do hammers and other blunt force objects, in fact they kill far more often than long guns.
Guns are not just for recreation they are also for defence. How nice of you to decide that John Q Public can only use a single shot. bolt action, double barreled shot gun or revolver to defend him or her self - possibily against a foe with a semi. Who the F are you to decide that? They (we - me) have the right to defend themselves and their property, and to defend against a hostile and out of control government. There are about 400 million firearms in the US.
As to your "problem" with a citizen showing up with an open carry weapon? Good for them. If you felt intimidated or other bad actors did, then it was job well done. You said it might have gotten hot in the meeting, but it seems the presence of the firearm prevented that. Imagine that.
Yea, guns of all sorts kill lots of Americans. No dispute of the numbers, but where are those deaths coming from? The bulk from gang and drug violence. People who want to kill will do so. With whatever they have to do the job. If its not a gun here are other means. True mass shootings are just a small factor in the overall gun death rates. Heck we kill 35,000 or so Americans a year with cars and we deem that as acceptable in everyday life. 665K from Heart problems and 167k from preventable injuries, both of which are largely self inflicted. In the scheme of things gun deaths are bad but not of epdemic proportions.
And of course there are around 400 million firearms in America and the ownership is a constituionally protected right. Lets say you somehow decided that no semis of any kind are allowed. How do you get them back? Oh yea some good guys might reluctanty give them back but do you think you will get them back from the bad guys? Which puts us right back where we started...good people let to try andd defend themselves against semis, with inferior firepower. I 'll bet a government bent on controlling the population, or the criminal element would find that quite comforting.
