because guns make it far easier, it's literally childs play to aim and pull a trigger at a distance of up to ~4meters, which is why ~70% of homicides in the USA are done with guns (8,855 of 12,765 in 2012, compared to 1,589 homicides through cutting/stabbing)

I don't doubt that elsewhere knives are outdoing guns, because you can find several knives in every house, while acquiring a gun is hard

Rope, Knives, Acid etc all have purposes beyond killing someone. Not sure what other function a gun serves than to fire a bullet at someone/thing.

Therein lies the difference.

As for the other part of your comment. There is so much ignorance and a complete lack of understanding as to the social circumstances in which dictatorships sieze power that I'm not even going to bother.

you aren't going to progress beyond human unless you chip yourself no matter how hard you try so carry on i wish you luck with that

edit: that's not quite true, you can try turning religious and then you may become an angel at death

i'm not denying that guns make it easier for criminals to harm people

my point here is that you have a right to defend yourself and given the circumstances ( there are many guns out in the wild ) that means the right to arm yourself

just saying "hue hue hue lets just leave all of our responsibility to whoever is nice enough to take it off our hands" is not a solution

You also have tranquilizer, paintball, and taser guns.

Then you have ammunition such as rubber bullets, wax bullets, plastic bullets, beanbag rounds, and ring airfoil projections, which are all non-lethal ammunition that is designed to incapacitate the target.

So how is that ANY different from say a knife?

guns can also be used as paper weights so no you are wrong and i don't get how that has anything to do with my point but whatever

secondly if your argument is that dictatorships always cease power and that its never the people that at times willingly put themselves into a position of servitude in return for security then yes perhaps you should keep quiet

So why aren't most gun owners just buying these non-lethal weapons to defend themselves and their families instead of guns with lethal ammunition? 

So why don't most people buy dull plastic knives for their kitchens?

It's a common sense right that's instinctual to all of nature. Everything (the majority of life) will defend itself or others' well being if they are in danger. It shoudn't have to be written down for people to respect or understand it.  

You do see the double standard here, right?  Guns do account for thousands of deaths per year in the US, so aren't the proponents of trying to figure out how to solve that, attempting to defend the well-being of those thousands who will undoubtedly die, this year, and the next, and the next?

I'm not saying you're wrong and they're right, or vice versa, just saying people are genuinely concerned.