Good Medicine
Although I can’t take credit for originality, this recent tweet got me thinking…
It certainly is a great point, and one worth discussing. We don’t look at guns the same way we look at medicines, but why not? Nearly half of the US population is on some type of prescription medication, and almost every prescription drug lists some sort of detrimental side effect…sometimes even death.
Many prescription drugs and medical devices carry the risk of death, although intended to save life or improve its quality. For an interesting exercise, go to Drugwatch.com and search the side effect, “death.” You’ll get a ton of results. Can you imagine a world where any drug, procedure, or medical device was banned if there were any risk of death from its use? Can you imagine the state of medical technology if such a stringent standard were enforced?
Ambien is one of the most popular prescription drugs in America, despite being notorious for its side effects…one of which is death. Yet people still take it. Why?
Although one “side effect” of the freedom to own guns in America is a certain amount of death, guns also save lives. We accept the relatively small risk of death from prescription drugs when we look at them through the lens of the lives they save…and we should view guns the same way. Despite unfortunate deaths from crime, suicide, and accidents, they are only a small fraction of the number of lives saved by guns every year, and private gun ownership remains good medicine for free people.
