Weapons or Tools?

It wasn’t so long ago that my brother had an online business called The Holster Shack. He sold holsters and firearm accessories, which included magazines for pistols and rifles, ammo for pistols, shotguns and rifles, scopes, range bags and all kinds of shit that firearm owners would be interested in.

I signed on as an unofficial promoter. It was my job to run the business’s Facebook page and keep people entertained. We had more than 5,000 followers. All were firearm owners and fans of the Second Amendment.  Many were current and former Military personnel and many were NRA members.

One article I wrote and posted on there had to do with my belief that firearms are weapons and should be classified as such. This started a huge argument between NRA members and Military personnel.

The NRA takes a very fierce position that firearms are not weapons, firearms are merely tools that can be used as weapons. The Military feels strongly that firearms are weapons and should never be classified as tools.

The NRA members were saying things like, “anything can be used as a weapon, anything at all.” as if this justified their position that firearms are not weapons, but tools. They’re not wrong, anything can be used as a weapon. But, when you think about it, pretty much everything is a tool.

My cell phone is a tool, my computer is a tool, my chair is a tool, this shot glass of whiskey is a tool.. All these things can be used as weapons, but they were not specially designed for that purpose.

The Military personnel in that argument felt that calling a firearm a tool and denying that it is a weapon was undermining the deadly seriousness of firearms. Of course a firearm, like everything else, is a tool. But firearms, no matter how they’re marketed–like “Uh, this one is meant for target shooting and this one is meant for hunting.”–are  designed to be weapons.

I’m very much in agreement with the Military on this. Firearms are weapons. They are designed to kill. No matter how you use them, there is no denying what they’re meant for. Firearms are serious, deadly, dangerous weapons.