The most unsettling part of the handgun violence debate is not the ubiquity of guns, nor the violence that is incurred or incited as a result of their use. Rather, it’s the facetious assumption bandied around by the proponents of gun control that guns themselves are the problem. Guns in and of themselves are not violent; it is a common error of association to view the tools of man as violent and not man himself. The cold steel barrel of a pistol, like a tornado or a flood, does have a consciousness; it does not think nor actively decide to take an innocent life. One does not seriously hold in contempt an act of nature when it kills someone they love. Like clouds and water, guns cannot think and similarly should not be blamed. What of other tools, say, a hammer or pencil? Pencils can be killing devices in the wrong hands, and as I am against pencil control in the manner I am also against gun control. Proponents of gun control often argue that a gun is created specifically for the purpose of killing, and in that it differs from a pencil which has no such purpose. The idea that restrictions on items are any more or less deserved based on their original intent amuses me greatly, but more importantly, to say that a gun is used solely for the purpose of killing or even purchased (the vast majority of the time) with intent to kill in mind is laughable. Despite my position, I am not implying that guns are appropriate tools for any given situation, nor do I affirm their efficacy as a method of persuasion. And while it is unlikely that I will ever own a firearm, I respect and feel compassion towards those who have the desire to be comforted by their often illusory protection. It is a cruel twist of fate that we have come to a point in time where we are seeking protection not from other animals, but from ourselves. We are the world’s most dangerous predator and simultaneously our own most dangerous enemy.