Guns. Just the word seems scary. Those nasty things designed only to kill from afar. Those things that kill people all by themselves. Someone please save us.

It is true guns are designed and meant to kill. However it’s the intent of the user that is all that matters. Any technology can be used for the wrong purpose, that’s human nature. Removing guns of any type will not stop criminals and people intent on hurting others from doing so.

I went to Statistics Canada and looked up homicides for 2011. Did you know that 2011 had the lowest number of homicides due to firearms in the last 50 years? Do you know what was the No. 1 cause of homicides in 2011? Knives or bladed weapons. That’s right, lock up your steak knife and get it registered.

In 2011, there were 158 homicides due to firearms. I wasn’t able to find statistics from MADD on drunk driving deaths for 2011, however, in 2009, it’s estimated that more than 1,074 deaths on the highway were related to impaired driving. I would assume that since we are hearing more about how drivers aren’t getting the message on drunk driving that the stats hold true over the last three years.

Drunk drivers kill more people than guns do. So do knives, but it’s how the events happen that trigger outrage. One drunk driving death reported here and there doesn’t drive the public fears as much as a gunman killing four people in one incident.

Guns do allow for one person to kill faster than a knife or a car. However, statistics show that gun deaths rarely involve more than one person. In fact, statistics show that the person in the most danger from a firearm is the owner, as more people are killed by suicide with a firearm than through a homicide by firearm.

Guns allow people to kill. So do knives and cars. It’s still the person that performs the act. The dog wags the tail, the tail does not wag the dog.

MICHAEL MARTIN

Kamloops