The below graphic has been circulating on pro-gun sites for quite awhile now, at least since 2011. I've seen it pop up in different variations many times since then. I'm sharing it here for one reason, and one reason only: to try to illustrate something known as a logical fallacy.
Numerical statistics can be both a blessing and a curse especially when they're being used as justification for illustrating one's point of view.....in this case doing nothing when talking about, and discussing possible remedies for gun violence in this country.
If this is all we are willing to look at, then woe is us. Maybe we need to start calling them illogical truths. I don't know. It's frustrating.
By looking at the graphic we can obviously infer what the message is - do nothing because the number of fatalities by assault style weapons is smaller than anything else and pretty minuscule when compared against both drunk drivers and malpractice deaths.
So many gun rights groups have used the argument regarding murders happening via hammers and knives, I wonder why the authors of this meme didn't include baseball bats in this one, too!
Would it be too much of a stretch to counter this graphic by asking whether or not more hammers, or more knives, or more alcohol, or more deaths by malpractice might be the solution to curing the death rates of each?
That, apparently, is what the NRA is calling for when they stated very publicly "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun". More guns. Bigger guns. Yeah, baby! That's the answer!
Is it really too much to ask ourselves why we have such a penchant for violence? Is it video games? Is it availability of guns? Is it easy availability of guns? Is it mental health, or the lack of treatment? Or is it a lack of personal responsibility? That's a serious question, folks. It's not rhetorical.
We can argue all we want to about how the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution should be interpreted. We can argue all we want to about how any additional infringement on the right to bear arms will allow the government to impose tyranny upon all of us.
But until - not if and until - we put our heads together and work together for the highest good of all, gun violence in this country will continue to rise.
In closing, I'm sharing another graphic that I found particularly profound and thought provoking simply because so many gun rights advocates keep throwing Switzerland, Australia, Great Britain, Israel, and others out there as examples pro or con to support their positions against tighter gun regulations in the U.S.
Just think about that for a second.
My two cents.
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