Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Official Blog of Benjamin L. Corey

Home
Progressive Christian
Please Stop Being Dishonest: Guns Are Not “Just Tools”

Please Stop Being Dishonest: Guns Are Not “Just Tools”

Last updated on: February 16, 2019 at 3:59 pm by Benjamin L. Corey

Please Stop Being Dishonest: Guns Are Not “Just Tools” 2019-02-16T15:59:21-05:00 Benjamin L. Corey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

There is a discussion to be had on America and guns.

I think the average person gets this– I mean, it’s pretty hard not to. We have a proliferation of guns and near-daily acts of unspeakable death and violence committed with many of those guns.

It seems only reasonable that we, as a nation, talk about common sense steps towards reducing all this violence. And, since this violence is typically committed with legally purchased guns, it’s also reasonable that we have a discussion on who should have guns and how to prevent those with nefarious intent from obtaining them.

However, I think the average person also knows that this discussion is almost insufferable to have. Each side has both reasonable and unreasonable people and arguments, and it is this insertion of refusal to reason by unreasonable people, that often make the discussion a no-go-for-launch.

One of those such arguments comes from the pro-gun crowd, and it goes something like this:

“You idiots! Guns are just tools.”

I’m convinced that each time this sort of logic is pushed forward an angel loses their wings or something. Because no, guns are not just tools.

If we’re ever to have even the most basic discussion on gun violence in America, we’ll have to move beyond a non-starter that is either ignorant or blatantly disingenuous.

This attempt to make those who wish to have a discussion on guns look foolish, backfires. Even if a gun were “just a tool,” those who use this argument often forget the full definition of the word tool:

“Tool: a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function.“

When saying, “but a gun is just a tool!” it seems they often mean, “it’s just an implement or device like a screwdriver, so stop acting like it’s dangerous.”

These folks ignore that a tool, by definition, carries out a particular function. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think one needs to be a member of Mensa to know what the particular function of a gun is.

We wouldn’t say the electric chair is “just a chair” or “just a tool” because we know that it is designed and used for a very specific function: killing people.

A gun isn’t some all-purpose tool– I mean, come on now, it’s not a freaking letherman.

Never in my life have I said, “Gee, honey, that picture looks crooked. Can you go grab my pistol so I can straighten it?” or, “Man, this IKEA furniture is really hard to put together without an AR-15.”

The way gun-advocates use the word “tool” is almost always the fallacy of false equivalency– guns are not equal to the other objects in life we commonly call tools, nor do they serve similar functions.

A 6 year old didn’t accidentally kill his father this week because Dad left a screwdriver on the table.

A 3 year old in Michigan didn’t accidentally kill his mom this week because he got his hands on a pencil sharpener.

A woman in Alabama didn’t inflict life threatening wounds on herself because she accidentally discharged the palm sander that was under her pillow.

The 6 people who died in Kalamazoo didn’t die because an Uber driver decided to drive around town and throw tape measures at people.

I mean, for the love of Lemmy people, a gun isn’t just some sort of tool that is divorced from a very specific function.

In fact, “tool” isn’t a very precise word for a gun at all; the word we should be using is weapon:

“Weapon: a thing designed or used for inflicting bodily harm or physical damage.”

Inflicting bodily damage is the entire purpose of a gun. It’s what they do. It’s why we don’t send people to war armed with screwdrivers, and why gun-advocates would not be satisfied if we just let them open carry hammers. They don’t want some generic tool– they want weapons, and they know it.

And this is also why the conversation must be centered around how we responsibly regulate deadly weapons, because that’s what guns are designed for.

There is reasonable dialogue to be had somewhere here in the middle, but that dialogue is quickly stifled when extremists disingenuously argue that we’re only talking about “tools.”

Because that’s not at all what we’re talking about.

I am hopeful we as a people can move forward in some fruitful conversation, but that can’t happen until the blatant dishonesty about guns being “just tools” comes to an end.

Stay up-to-date! Follow BLC on Facebook:

Christian Nonviolence

Guns

Previous Post

February 22, 2016

Dear Christian Parent: Please Don't Try To Break Their Will

Next Post

February 26, 2016 Losing My Religion And Finding My Voice (From Cult To Coach)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abuse Adoption Asked & Answered Atheism Atonement Bible Book Calvinism Christian Culture Christian Nonviolence Christmas Church Church Killing Lies Community Creation Care Creationism End Times Evergreen Forgiveness Fundamentalism Gender Gender Equality Ghosting Grief Guns Healthcare Hell Hermeneutics Holy Land Human Trafficking Hunger Immigration Islam Israel Jesus Justice Lent Letting Go Of Hell Series LGBT Life Mark Driscoll Missiology Most Popular Posts Nationalism Old Testament Open Theism Parenting Persecution Political Poverty Prayer Pro-Life Pro-llife ethic Progressive Christianity Prosperity Gospel Put It To Bed Series Race Sincere Questions Suicide Prevention That God Show Theology To Those Christians Who Say Travel Unafraid Uncategorized War What Franklin Graham Is Wrong About Today

Select a Month October 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz