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[Tommy_Carcetti]

188. "Inanimate" objects that have the capability of becoming quite animate.

As in having the capability to shoot a sharp projectile at the speed of sound which has the ability to cut through human flesh. That's pretty damn animate to me.

And that's not just an unintended consequence of the purpose of this so-called "inanimate object." That's its intended purpose.

We aren't talking about a stepping stool, or a toaster over, or a--I'll say it--car. (Because I know how much all you gun enthusiasts love to draw comparisons between car deaths and gun deaths as if they were any way remotely similar.) We're talking about an instrument which is designed exclusively for killing, injuring, or the simulation of killing/injuring.

You talk about fear of guns, and maybe that's you gun enthusiasts' problem. You don't think we should be afraid of them. Not even a healthy, logical, rational fear. Anything that has the ability to take a human life should be viewed with a bit of caution. And anything that was designed with the specific purpose of having the ability to take a human life should be viewed as extreme, as out of the ordinary, as something not to be trifled with except in only the most exceptional of circumstances. Collecting guns as if they were baseball cards, carrying them around as if they were your wallet in your pocket, chalking it off as simply your "right" without regard to potential consequences or problems down the road--it is an unhealthy obsession, a delusion.

So forgive me if I have just a little fear of your precious "inanimate object."