A Nextdoor member complained that autos kill people, so we should ban some autos, just like calls to ban some guns. ‘It would be fair, no?’
I responded: Auto deaths are down from past years, and are much lower than the rate 30 years ago. Consider some of the rational safety steps taken to cut auto deaths, and ask whether they would not be applicable to guns, to reduce deaths.
1. A license is required to operate a vehicle, whether one owns the vehicle or not. Proficiency in vehicle operation must be demonstrated in a written test and driving test done by the state.
2. A license is required for the vehicle. In Texas, licenses must be renewed annually. Vehicles must undergo inspections for safety, and to be sure they meet air quality standards on emissions.
3. Drivers and owners are required to carry liability insurance, to pay for medical costs and property damage, or deaths, in the event the vehicle causes damage or injury.
4. There are numerous safety devices in vehicles; brakes must be maintained, by law; tires must be kept in good working order. Seatbelts are required for drivers and all passengers. Airbags are now required on almost all vehicles, passive injury-prevention devices. Bodies of cars and trucks must be built to preserve cab integrity and reduce injury in event of collision.
5. There are many safety warning devices. Vehicles must have working headlights and taillights, turn signals, emergency signals, running lights and horns. Law requires drivers to signal their intentions to other surrounding vehicles and pedestrians.
6. In almost all cases, vehicles must give way to pedestrians.
There are not exact analogs to all those safety devices and procedures in guns, but many would improve gun safety considerably.
There are about half as many vehicles as guns in the U.S. (educated guess); most of them get used every day. Most Americans ride in a vehicle every day.
Let us say there are 150 million vehicles driven 300 times a year. That’s 45 billion uses (mileage is not calculated). Of those 45 billion uses, 40,000 lives are lost every year. One death for every 1,125,000 uses.
300 million guns (again, educated guess; it’s a bit more than that); most guns get used how often? Once a year? Twice a year?
600 million uses, and 45,000 deaths, with guns. That’s one death for every 13,333 uses. Gun deaths are about 8 times more frequent than auto deaths, per use.
Obviously, guns are [at least] 8 times as dangerous as cars. Let’s consider that, too.
How can we bring gun deaths down?
While you’re at it, how can we bring auto deaths down?
Some time after I posted my response on May 10, 2023, the original poster took his post down. BESMART has good policies for gun safety in America. Maybe check out their suggestions, and support their work, at BeSmartforkids.org.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
Fibbing a little.
You cannot buy a car designed to kill people. You can’t buy a steamroller for street use. You can’t legally drive most agriculture equipment on roads without permits.
You may get any horsepower you wish, if you control emissions. Plus, your insurance company may raise your rates to cover greater potential for damage — or refuse to insure your vehicle at all. Your vehicle must be street legal. If it isn’t you get a ticket if caught and may lose custody of the vehicle.
You may drive a car off the lot if you are a licensed driver and have offered proof of liability insurance. That background check is purposeful, and you were unaware it was done.
California standards drive what’s available in other states.
Bigger vehicles are not legal on all public roads, nor in parking lots both private and public.
Your drivers license is valid in all 50 states, unless you accumulate violations — then it’s revoked, and that revocation is valid in all 50 states. That would be a good requirement for gun ownership, no?
Your license is renewable so long as you pass the vision test and keep your record clean. Your license must show whether you should wear glasses. Licenses are often denied for victims of diseases that make their vehicle use thought to be occasionally problematic.
Your passing the test once at 16 is fine, so long as you provide proof by lack of violations that you still understand and can drive proficiently.
Drive your car on the sidewalk and threaten people with it, you’re going to get cited. Drive drunk, you may lose your license. If you injure someone with your vehicle, you pay — you hope you have insurance. Your insurance company will tell you if you’re a problem and need to stop driving.
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With an auto:
– I can buy any make or model I like;
– No restrictions on how many seats, or how many HP of the engine;
– I can drive my new car home the day I purchase it;
– A vehicle bought in one state is automatically legal in every other state;
– I may drive it on any public road, park it in any public lot;
– My driver’s license and registration are valid in all 50 states;
– My license is renewed every 10 years by simply paying a fee;
– I was last required to pass a proficiency test when I was 16.
That’s not quite what gun control advocates propose.
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