We are grateful to Michael Harriot for his article in The Root, from which we took this material. By debunking the common arguments against sensible gun laws, Mr. Harriot provides excellent material for those of us who want to change the narrative that is preventing our country from enacting sensible gun laws.
Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.
- While this is true, an overwhelming number of people who kill people use guns. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s statistics show that 69 percent of the homicides in 2014 were from gun deaths. The rate is steadily rising. While it is true that people are causing a rise in violent crime for the second year in a row, that they are using guns to commit these crimes is an unavoidable fact.
- The number of mass shootings, injuries and even unintentional shootings has risen every year since 2014, according to the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive. There is only one common thread in all of these statistics: guns.
- Until we hear about an outbreak of mass spooning incidents or the growing number of drive-by knifings, let’s acknowledge that people kill people … with guns.