Separating humanity from religion is impossible. Every culture has created some kind of religion to explain the unexplainable. One could argue that without the drive to explain away the unexplainable, we'd all still be hiding under trees, throwing rocks at small animals for food.

No, actually, that's not true. We'd probably be extinct.

Without good, evil can't exist. By arguing that the world is evil, you're acknowledging that good also exists.

I'm feeling very abstract this morning. I think it's the flu.

If baseball bats are the problem, ban baseball.

If large sticks are the problem, ban trees.

Humanity will find a way to kill no matter what rules are in place to stop it. As long as the human race remains a greedy, petty group of pack animals, murder will be around. Don't expect that to change anytime soon. It's the nature of our species and really, most animals in general.

Dude, just stop for a second.  How can you say that coming from a country where school kids and disgruntled ex workers mow down people with guns every year. Its less likely if more deadly weapons are restricted and you know it.

The phenomenal stupidity of that assumption, that ofcourse people are animals and its natural to defend or act in aggression, doesn't excuse the evidence that guns, and specifically easily attainable and cheap guns, are the biggest cause of death in the world.

By your own logic, the right to bear arms, everyone should have a right to own a nuclear missile. It will protect my family and according to free market ideology i should have access to anything i want aslong as it doesn't hurt anyone.

Thought I would share this… what I have to say though is nothing I can share here.

The sweet irony of pointing out that humans are violent by nature and having it called "phenomenally stupid" in the same post that equates handguns to nuclear weaponry is causing neurons in my brain to fire in ways I've never experienced before.

I thought it would be hard for you to top your statement that something needs to be done about kitchen utensils and their disastrous impact on the English Isles. I'm glad to see that I was wrong.

 fixed

This is derailing the thread so I won't carry on about it for too long.

Yes, guns are violent. The presence of weaponry makes murder easier. I think arguing otherwise is foolish. From this point, let me diverge into a political argument and really, this is where this debate always ends up. With the banning of firearms for the "good of society", you're limiting the rights of the individual. That may be acceptable to you but it is not acceptable to others. So, like abortion, this debate will continue on and on forever, even if guns are banned in the future. Sacrifice a little perceived safety for a little freedom or vice versa. Where you fall on the spectrum doesn't matter to me and I'm not going to argue it. To each their own.

I wasn't arguing the legality of guns, BTW. I was merely pointing out that no matter what you do, humans will find ways to kill each other.

Oh, and comparing Japanese murder rate to American is folly. Trying to explain the difference through registered ammunition rounds is even worse. You're taking two vastly different cultures with completely different outlooks on freedom, individuality, and thought processes and ignoring all those factors in favor of one small law. It's the old "ice cream causes road rage" method of statistical analysis. It takes two statistics and draws a conclusion that they're somehow related without disproving other influences and their potential impact on said statistics.