Question

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David Blomstrom

Guns Are Designed to Kill Bad People?

In a video @ https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=149148723912527 someone suggests that Ben Shapiro is hypocritical in opposing abortion but not supporting gun control. Shapiro replies that abortion kills babies, but "Guns are designed to kill bad guys if operated by a proper person."

That argument is all over the map. Guns are designed to kill, period, and that's a mighty big "If." Moreover, what is a "proper person"?

Can anyone point out some specific fallacies in this argument?

asked on Sunday, Oct 02, 2022 08:07:05 AM by David Blomstrom

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Answers

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Bo Bennett, PhD
2

Shapiro is highly religious and holds the world view of "good guys" and "bad guys." Immediately, I can think of the false dilemma or the cognitive bias black and white thinking—a way our brains deal with the discomfort of complexity by oversimplifying the world in a child-like manner.

The "designers" of guns design and create guns to make money, so unless Shapiro can provide evidence as to why guns are "designed," he is either factually wrong or at best, making an unfalsifiable claim. Gun designers in Afghanistan create guns perhaps to kill Americans... the "bad guys," so even if he is right, he is wrong.

answered on Sunday, Oct 02, 2022 08:33:52 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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skips777 writes:

Guns are made for target practice and starting races. Bullets are made to kill...oh even I can't troll with a straight face, nvm

posted on Sunday, Oct 02, 2022 01:53:07 PM
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Kostas Oikonomou
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cherry picking Guns are also used by "improper" people to kill good people.

It's also red herring because the initial discussion was about gun usage and gun control, not gun design.
Also non sequitur if the implied argument is that since guns are designed with the intent to kill bad guys, there should be no gun control. 

answered on Monday, Oct 03, 2022 07:27:46 AM by Kostas Oikonomou

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David Blomstrom writes:

Nice answer!

posted on Monday, Oct 03, 2022 01:16:48 PM