Whilst I am very liberal (classical sense) on many issues, including guns, you can't compare drugs with guns.
Much more meaningful to compare hand guns with explosives and other weapons, and drugs with alcohol and generally self-harm.
Much more meaningful to compare hand guns with explosives and other weapons, and drugs with alcohol and generally self-harm.
- Guns can be used for self-harm.
- Drugs can be used to harm others.
Why aren't people ready to accept that people will die?
There's a big difference between "can be used to" and "is designed to".
Cars with top speeds above 85mph are designed specifically to do something (in the USA at least) that society deems harmful. Number of cars ever driven at high speed on tracks or long private roads is minimal and not relevant.
Self defense and hunting are valid reasons to harm other[ creature]s. It does not follow that something should be banned just because it's designed to harm others.
In terms of what various things are designed to do, relative to what society considers acceptable, it makes more sense to keep guns legal than to keep fast speed-limit-exceeding cars legal, or to legalize hard drugs.
- Guns: Designed to be harmful. Can be safe.
I'm not saying that you can't argue that drugs are so dangerous that they should be prohibited or that guns can be safely used and should be allowed. The topic is the same but the starting point is not.
Your examples are of things that are dangerous, not of things that are designed to be harmful.
There are other things that are hurtful and dangerous, and whether something is designed that way by humans or not has no bearing on the utilitarian calculus. Particularly so when there's no categorical imperative against the thing they're designed to do (unless you're against all self defense and hunting).
I fail to see how such general and silly questions foster a debate. No one said or implied those.
> has no bearing on the utilitarian calculus
That's why we need to (wait for it) debate!
> no categorical imperative against the thing
You know what's the problem of the categorical imperative? It's very subjective.
You know how we overcome such subjectivity? (wait for it) debate!
---
My point is simply that in one the harm is direct (designed to) and the other is indirect (can be used to). Due to that the debate between those should be different.
I made no "quantifiable" comparison pal.