It’s All About Saving Lives

Every time we hear about a mass shooting the calls to ban guns goes out. You can count on it like clockwork. The claim is that it is all about saving lives. However, there are lots of other things in life that are dangerous and one of the most dangerous of those is tobacco.

According to the CDC over 480,000 people die each year from tobacco consumption. In 2020 firearms resulted in 45,222 deaths including suicide. That is less than 10% of all tobacco deaths.

But choosing to use tobacco only affects that individual, right? Wrong! over 41,000 people each year die from the effects of second hand smoke. People who have never used tobacco die because they are around other people who use it.

We have programs to educate people about the dangers of tobacco. We have a warning label on every tobacco package. Everyone knows that using tobacco is a serious threat to their health and the health of those around them, but we wouldn’t dare ban tobacco, even if it meant saving lives.

Now I am not advocating to ban tobacco – just pointing out the double standard when it comes to guns and “saving lives”.