CreateDebate is a social debate community built around ideas, discussion and democracy.
If this is your first time checking out a debate, here are some quick tips to help get you started:
Arguments with the highest score are displayed first.
Argument replies (both in favor and in opposition) are displayed below the original argument.
To follow along, you may find it helpful to show and hide the replies displayed below each argument.
To vote for an argument, use these icons:
You have the power to cast exactly one vote (either up or down) for each argument.
Once you vote, the icon will become grayed out and the argument's score will change.
Yes, you can change your vote.
Debate scores, side scores and tag scores are automatically calculated by an algorithm that primarily takes argument scores into account.
All scores are updated in real-time.
To learn more about the CreateDebate scoring system, check out the FAQ.
When you are ready to voice your opinion, use the Add Argument button to create an argument.
If you would like to address an existing argument, use the Support and Dispute link within that argument to create a new reply.
It's immaterial whether the majority of fatalities caused by firearms are homicides or suicides.
Whilst drugs may be used on occasions to effect suicides their existence and overwhelming application is so junkies can achieve their highs with most users not wishing or meaning to kill themselves, or anyone else.
We're not comparing like with like when we contrast deaths by a lethal weapon and overdosing on narcotics.
I haven't researched the statistics but I'm sure unintentional deaths caused by gluttony, sedentary lifestyles, road accidents, alcohol abuse, smoking tobacco would have as high a death toll as intentional homicides/suicides by firearms.
I repeat, the chief purpose of a firearm is to kill.
We aren't trying to compare like with like. I am demonstrating that all the talk about guns is under the pretext of minimizing or reducing impact. If that wasn't a false pretense, we would hear more about those things that have a greater impact, as drugs do by a long shot.
Well, we are misleadingly comparing like with like.
We can't ban the sale of food, prohibit the use of automobiles, ban the legal sale of tobacco products or legislate for compulsory regular keep-fit sessions but we can outlaw the sale of guns without the in-depth profiling of potential buyers and the strict issuing of firearm licences.
This would be a start on the road to significantly reducing the ridiculously high number of lethal weapons in circulation.
No problem can be even addressed never mind redressed if we refuse to recognize that a problem exists.
Will you please stop purposefully trying to merge two completely separate issues? Gun bans have successfully reduced gun crime in every developed country they have been implemented. If you want to predict the result of a gun ban then look at other gun bans. Drugs and guns are not the same thing, they are not used for the same thing, and the public attitudes towards them are not the same. You might as well be sitting there arguing a ban on biological weapons would never work because of prohibition. It's senseless.
In the US, you are 25 times more likely to be the victim of a gun homicide than in other high-income countries, and that's because other high-income countries have gun laws which aren't batshit insane.
Gun bans have successfully reduced gun crime in every developed country they have been implemented
You left out that murder by other weapons went up. Yes, yes. The little helmet wearing goblin ever quite puts those two things together, eh Nom? Wait. What's this???
Some of the teenagers killed in London in 2021
Most of the young victims were stabbed to death. In London, 74.4% of all homicides were caused by knives or sharp implements in 2021, a 15.6% increase from 2020. Perhaps a testimony to the UK’s strong gun control laws, just 8.3% of homicides in 2021 were caused by gunshot wounds – proportionally down from the 11.4% witnessed in 2020.
My god Nom, you are a genius. You got gun deaths down by an entire 3% and knife deaths up by 15%. That's a net... Loss. Damn. You actually increased deaths. You should pat your little ass squarely on the helmet.
Given death tolls, why do we argue about gun deaths but not drug deaths?
Did you ever consider it might be because drug users take drugs of their own free will, whereas gunshot victims don't usually volunteer to get sprayed with bullets? The mass shooters on the news every day aren't bursting into classrooms forcing kids to smoke marijuana.
I mean, why stop there? Some people die from choking on chicken bones, so therefore everybody should have the means to murder half a city block tucked into their waistband, yes?
Did you ever consider it might be because drug users take drugs of their own free will, whereas gunshot victims don't usually volunteer to get sprayed with bullets?
Lol you're incorrect. The majority of gun deaths are from suicide. Even including suicide, drug deaths are double gun deaths. And including suicide is what disingenuous talking heads always do when discussing gun violence.
Lol you're incorrect. The majority of gun deaths are from suicide
Firstly, I'm not incorrect. You're assuming the United States is the only country in the world, which is a common problem among Americans. Other countries see far more gun homicides than gun suicides.
Secondly, drug users take drugs to have a good time, not to kill themselves. Death is a by-product of drug use, not a first cause.
Thirdly, your post is a raging tu quoque fallacy, otherwise known as "whataboutism". It essentially suggests that, if gun deaths are bad, drug deaths are therefore good. Drugs and guns are two completely independent problems which you are trying to insincerely paste together for the purpose of creating a fallacious line of argument.
Firstly, You're not suggesting a world wide ban on guns are you? That's gonna take a little more conquering. Yes I am talking about the issues as they relate to America, and what might be done. There is literally nothing to be done about global gun and drug deaths.
Secondly, if something people do for fun kills them at twice the rate of tools meant to kill, that makes my case even greater. We talk about guns because of politics, not because of impact. Which leads to the thirdly.
Thirdly, this is not tu quoque (you're terrible at identifying logical fallacies haha). It is about what we discuss and why. It's driven by political narrative, not impact.
Firstly, You're not suggesting a world wide ban on guns are you?
I'm not suggesting anything because this is your topic, not mine. Don't try to flip it back around at me.
Yes I am talking about the issues as they relate to America, and what might be done. There is literally nothing to be done about global gun and drug deaths.
Every single developed country which has placed restrictions on guns has witnessed a drop in gun crime so you're writing absolute nonsense which is directly contradicted by the facts.
if something people do for fun kills them at twice the rate of tools meant to kill
This is another lamentably false statement. 32 million people regularly use drugs in the United States and there were 100,000 OD deaths last year. Your apparent belief that 32 million people intentionally shot someone with the intent of killing them last year is preposterous and stupid. There are a lot more people taking drugs than shooting people with guns and this should be perfectly obvious to anybody with even half a functional brain cell.
If drugs are more lethal than guns, which seems to be -- bizarrely -- what you are implying, then why is the military armed with guns and not drugs?
This is another lamentably false statement. 32 million people regularly use drugs in the United States and there were 100,000 OD deaths last year. Your apparent belief that 32 million people intentionally shot someone with the intent of killing them last year is preposterous and stupid. There are a lot more people taking drugs than shooting people with guns and this should be perfectly obvious to anybody with even half a functional brain cell.
If drugs are more lethal than guns, which seems to be -- bizarrely -- what you are implying, then why is the military armed with guns and not drugs?
You are equating lethal shooters with non lethal drug users. That's fallacious. You should be equating drug users with gun users (owners) to make a comparison. Many more people own guns than use lethal drugs. The vast vast majority of gun owners are perfectly safe, even while actively shooting their guns.
Drugs kill twice as many people as guns do. The military doesn't employ drugs because drugs accidentally kill the user at an astronomical rate. Far more than what guns kill on purpose.
You are equating lethal shooters with non lethal drug users. That's fallacious.
Lmao. You are the one being fallacious and you damned well know it. You literally claimed:-
something people do for fun (i.e. drugs) kills them at twice the rate of tools meant to kill
Drugs do not kill at twice the rate of guns. This is an inexcusably false claim and I explained why. Your continued efforts to flip your own dishonesty back at your accusers is tiresome, Amarel.
Drugs kill twice as many people as guns do.
Which is what you should have written in the first place. This is not the same claim, so you're only proving that what you wrote originally was untrue. As explained already, there are 32 million regular drug users in the United States. Around 0.3 percent of those end up dying annually because of drugs. Conversely, over 50 percent of people who were shot in 2021, died. To claim then, that drugs kill at twice the rate of guns is abhorrently stupid and false.
And going back to your earlier point about suicide, then the statistics show that merely owning a firearm increases a person's suicide risk by 300 percent!!!
Of all the people killed in 2020, 33% we're from drugs. 16.2% we're from guns. 33% is a higher death rate than 16.2%. Since the measured population is people killed, that's twice as many people.
The vast majority of gun owners are never even shot. There are more gun owners than drug users. Drugs kill at a higher rate than guns.
Guns are used far more then drugs these days, especially by gangs who want a score to settle with one another. Drug trades are far less then black marketing weapons. It is for the sole reason for gangs to "make a point" and to "protect" those in their territory while extorting money to buy more drugs and weapons overall. Guns kill people instantly usually and are more fatal. Drugs slow down death and is more of a peaceful end if overdosed. But abuse on both issues? It's real. Cops have to deal with it every day almost. Probably more in America then in Canada.
Further more, to lecture you on your ignorance towards gun violence, I have 100¾tter arguments and evidence to present that guns are worse. While drugs are no better. You do realize that both gun violence and drugs are the top two sources of death right? Oh wait, you don't. Therefore, you just got wrecked. Do it again and I will destroy you by the truth and only the truth snowflake.
If you're evidence says that guns are worse while drugs are no better, then your evidence is contradictory.
Sure the top two causes of death are guns and drugs. But drugs account for almost twice as many deaths while guns kill just slightly more people than gravity. Some years, falls kill more than guns. All according to the CDC.
Lol. Your propensity for intellectual dishonesty never ceases to astound me. As has been explained to you at least four times in the past twenty four hours, 32 million people in the United States regularly use drugs. The number which use guns to shoot people is nowhere near that amount, much less regularly. Hence, guns are significantly more dangerous than drugs.
Do me a favor and shrug off or I will lecture you further on why guns are worse. Your arguments are invalidated.
Wikipedia isn't a reliable source. Funny how you shifted positions when I was supporting the same side as you were on. But it turns out, you contradict yourself just like every snowflake I have encountered. You are weak compared to me on this site.
There's no basis for the claim that illegal gun use is greater than illegal drug use. Perhaps gun use in general is greater than illegal drug use, but legal gun use isn't the issue.
I don't think the father of the dead college kid is reassured by the notion that their kid's death was peaceful.
There is no basis that drugs are worse than guns. However, alot of crime rates are committed by those who have guns. Your arguments are invalidated, ineffective and stupid. Gang violence exists and because you deny it, that makes you an invalidated retard. Cry me a river and get over it.
There is a relationship between drug abuse and gun violence. Due to the use and the abuse of drugs, gangs take out guns and shoot each other. This article that I will post will support that both are bad, however, I will still say, guns are worse as it does the most instant damage of killing Americans all around of all ages from teens to adults. It's no surprise that both do not mix well but are co-used anyways.
Sure there is a relationship. Drugs have a huge black market, which always comes with violence. If you look at the CDC data, you'll see that drug poisoning kills twice the people guns do. You'll also see that states with the highest gun deaths do not neatly overlap with states having the highest drug deaths.
I genuinely believe that the "gun death rate" is useless propogandistic bullshit and that society benefits from civilian ownership of firearms, but y'all cunts are making me think that we need to boost the numbers. Vote for a giant fucking meteor this November.
Reinforce PLCAA, abolish the BATFE, 1934 NFA, & 1968 GCA, and have the NRA transition to giving out free one-way tickets to North Korea for literally anyone who wants to live in a country without privately owned firearms. Generally deregulate the industry so that the cost savings on firearm production is passed on to the consumer.