A slogan from the gun-rights world: “Guns don’t kill, people do”, though more accurately it should be “Guns don’t kill, shooters do”. This slogan points out that, though a gun may be used to kill somebody, it requires a shooter to pull the trigger. Of course a shooter is only a shooter if the shooter has a gun (no gun, no shooter) and guns can kill by accident (no shooter, yet gun kills). Another slogan from the gun-rights world: “Guns save lives”. Guns have no feelings and know nothing of saving lives, so perhaps “Guns don’t save lives, people do” though the people involved are not necessarily shooters. What lives are saved? Nationally, in 2009, more twice the number of people died from suicide (36,909) than died from homicide (16,799) and “Suicide was the only leading cause of death showing a significant increase” from the previous year. More suicides involved a gun (18,735) than homicides with a gun (11,493).
