That’s a very fair point. Ideally, firearms shouldn’t be sold to those who would use them illegally in the first place.
Comment on Why shouldn’t firearm manufacturers be held accountable for the use of their weapons in crimes?
TheOneCurly@lemmy.theonecurly.page 9 months ago
I would support this if there was evidence that manufacturers were knowingly (or purposefully not doing do diligence) selling to distributors who weren’t following the rules or were somehow pressuring distributors to bend the rules to sell more (conspiracy). Otherwise its really on the distributors to be doing background checks, adhering to waiting periods, and using proper discretion. If we want less guns around then there need to be legal limits on sales and ownership, and those limits need to be enforced.
MisterMcBolt@lemmy.world 9 months ago
YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world 9 months ago
It’s the Big Tobacco argument, they knew their products were deadly but ignored it. Gun Manufacturers know their products are deadly but they ignore it.
relative_iterator@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
Everyone knows guns are deadly. Not everyone knew tobacco was. Tobacco companies knew and withheld that information and marketed their products as safe.
YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world 9 months ago
So gun Manufacturers advertise they murder more innocent people than any other device? I don’t remember that ad.
AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 9 months ago
No, this isn’t the same. The tobacco companies hid data that showed how unhealthy their products were because if people were aware they might not buy the product. People bought tobacco products for enjoyment.
Everyone knows guns can be deadly. Hell, it’s actually a selling point. No one is hiding that information. But you can use a gun in a legal way or an illegal way. It’s very different.
phillaholic@lemm.ee 9 months ago
It’s been suggested that the gun lobby is actively hiding data on how bad their products are to health
ojp.gov/…/access-denied-how-gun-lobby-depriving-p…
While not a 1-to-1 comparison, I think it’s relevant to compare them to Tobacco.
AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I firmly disagree. I’m not a fan of guns (or tobacco), but these just aren’t analogous situations. The number of people who think a gun can’t be lethal when you point it at someone’s head is essentially zero, but for years they talked about the health benefits of smoking. And “the gun lobby” isn’t the same as “gun manufacturers” the way that the tobacco lobby was basically completely funded by tobacco companies.
Yes, there are a bunch of people who don’t want us to be able to study how many gun deaths there are a year, but it’s not because they don’t want us to know if guns pose a health risk or not. It’s just a different situation.