![]() Early research by scholars like Marvin Wolfgang in 1958 helped support the slogan. It is one of the main slogans of the NRA, and a favorite. Along with other slogans and themes such as "if guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns" and "America doesn't have a gun problem, it has a crime problem", it has been a part of pro-gun public relation campaigns. ![]() Its usage on bumper stickers dates back to at least the 1970s. American investigative journalist Jack Anderson has called the statement the organization's "first article of faith". It was during this time that the slogan came into usage as a reason against gun control. The National Rifle Association (NRA) was involved in gun control politics as early as the period when the 1911 Sullivan gun control legislation was passed in New York. ![]() For the purpose of analyzing the slogan and explaining different points of view, experts replace 'guns' with other terms, such as cars, knives, butter knives, nuclear weapons, and weapons systems. There are numerous variations that extend the slogan to mental health and social issues, including some that convey that guns make it easier for people to kill, and others in which 'people' is substituted with criminals, toddlers, children, bullets, or other nouns. Scientifically, the statement is inaccurate since it is the bullets and the kinetic energy that causes damage to the body. Law in the United States already has parallels, for example in the case of regulations for automatic firearms. The gun-human relation becomes a key factor in analysis. When arguing that guns have moral value and technological agency, the responsibility of the human is also considered. The statement has been considered in the context of technological neutrality, technological determinism, value neutrality, and the instrumentalist philosophy of technology. ![]() In the context of proximate and ultimate causation, the statement is a case of "mistaken relevance of proximate causation". Further, the statement presents two polarizing extremes, namely that either the guns or the people are entirely to blame, while this is not the case with either gun-rights advocates or opponents, as they usually lie somewhere between the two extremes.Īmerican, Canadian, Dutch, French, and Israeli philosophers, criminologists, psychiatrists, lawyers, and others have considered the statement. It further only references that people are violent in general, and says nothing of gun ownership and gun violence. The statement does not say anything about gun control. However, when the statement is used in the context of gun debates it becomes misdirection and can be considered a fallacy. In colloquial use, both parts of the statement are largely considered true. Gun control proponents believe the slogan is an example of bumper sticker logic and supports the larger folk psychology behind gun advocacy. The statement, its variants, and counter-variants have been positively or negatively referenced and paraphrased by both sides of the gun control debate, including NRA representatives, the President of the United States, lawmakers, and members of the general public. The slogan and connected understanding dates back to at least the 1910s, and it became widely popular among gun advocates in the second half of the 20th century, so much so that some have labeled it a cliché. " Guns don't kill people, people kill people" (and variations such as " guns don't kill people, people do" and " guns don't kill, people do") is a slogan popularized by the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and other gun advocates. ![]()
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