Two guys are talking. "I wish I could buy a tank" says one, "but I don't have the money." "Just charge it to your credit card" says the other "and then decline to pay." "But then they will come and take the tank back." says the first. "No they won't" says the other, "remember, you have a tank..."
A friend of mine has two sons and they had a play date with a friend from school. This being the first play date in a new home, my friend asked if they had guns in the house. "Yes, off course. I don't know where it is right of the top of my head..." said the Texan born hostess, slowly turning around towards my friend. "That is probably not so smart." she recognized.
No, that was probably not so smart.
Fortunately adults found the gun before the boys did so the story ends here; all boys are still alive and well and off to college and beyond.
People from countries with different gun laws may not realize in how many homes their children can get shot by accident. I know I didn't. If your pediatrician hasn't already taught you to be smart like my friend and ask if there are guns in the homes where the kids visit and how the guns are stored, let this be a good time to start.
This New York TImes piece illustrates beautifully the breath of how people relate to their firearms and how haphazardly and unsecured they may be stored.
There is no reason to mention the statistics or the consequences of all the guns floating around in society. You have heard all the arguments many times before. Every time yet another mass shooting happens, the statistics are rehashed to no avail.
Many laws have been changed because enough people were negatively influenced by them. Equal marriage rights have been achieved because enough people loved somebody who was directly affected by the inequality. But even when members of Congress get shot, their colleagues refuse to takes action.
It may not just be because of the influence of money from the NRA or weapon manufacturers. One argument for why the members of Congress can't agree on stricter gun laws may be hiding in the first paragraph in this post: The other guys have guns.