Alcohol is much more widely available than guns. Real statistics: Over 50% of murders are committed by people who are intoxicated. Of all the drugs available to us, alcohol — partly because it so readily available, all day, everyday — is the most dangerous drug on the planet. Time and time again, it helps create monsters who destroy relationships, other people’s lives, and so on.
And clearly, many people who partake in alcohol should not be anyhwere near it.
In other words, whether it’s guns, alcohol, or both — we have a society with very few guard rails for matters that can be casual or sometimes useful (firearms help further guarantee self-defense; alcohol can be used to dull pain) — or that can be super destructive and take out people left and right, day after day, year after year.
Point being: Sure, we can keep the gates wide open and continue to allow adults the right to partake in substances or hobbies that are fundamentally *dangerous* — or we stop brushing off the problem as “just a bunch of snowflake libtards who don’t understand the 2nd amendment”.
As for the various weapons used and other means that humans have used to kill each other throughout history — we humans, in general, are highly susceptible to tribalism. Yes, it doesn’t only take a gun for a person to become part of pernicious group of people and crave killing everyone around them.
However, now that we, as more evolved humans, know quite well that *every one of us* can turn evil, it means that the subject of guns — or any controversial subject for that matter — is not as simple as saying, “Well, human beings have been killing each other for thousands of years”.
Whether any wants to hear this or not, many — and I mean *many* — people are not psychologically equipped to own a firearm. Which means the conversation is still on the table — and something needs to change. It will be a mammoth effort here in the U.S., as we are heavily rooted in a society that often glorifies violence and has an existential “I’m the toughest guy in the world” complex.
Bur who knows: Maybe we will keep evolving and find ways to regulate dangerous matters, and without bruising a whole lot of fragile egos in the process.