Guns don't kill people, people kill people

Guns don't kill people, people kill people is a pro-gun slogan commonly used by the National Rifle Association of America.

March For Our Lives protest sign

Rally to Support Firearm Safety Legislation protest sign

Quotes

• One thing I don’t buy is the argument that guns don't kill people, people kill people. So what? A gun is an extension of man—and there are certain extensions that men must not make. There are certain reflexes in space, human movements in certain directions and dimensions, that must be limited.
  • In the book Patton's Best: An Informal History of the 4th Armored Division, 1978 (pg 138)

• The National Rifle Association says that, "Guns don't kill people, uh, people do." But I think, I think the gun helps. You know? I think it helps. I just think just standing there going, "Bang!" That's not going to kill too many people, is it? You'd have to be really dodgy on the heart to have that.
  • Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill

• While guns don’t kill people, they certainly do make killing easier.
  • David Ropeik, "The Gun Control Battle Isn’t About Guns As Weapons. It’s About Guns as Symbols", Big Think (December 17, 2012)

• Guns don't kill people. Gun owners kill people.
  • Oliver Markus Malloy, Inside The Mind of an Introvert

• A sword by itself does not slay; it is merely the weapon used by the slayer. (An early form of the phrase)
  • Seneca the Younger. Letters from a Stoic. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022.