Vagaries and Abuses of Terminology

The following discussion may well be seen as simply 'preaching-to-the-choir' to many lawful gun owning citizens, but nonetheless, it deserves and needs continued exposure in the vain hope that eventually numerous meanings and definitions can be better chosen.

Firstly, a look at the word 'violence' and its potential meanings:

From The Free Dictionary:

vi•o•lence:

1. Behavior or treatment in which physical force is exerted for the purpose of causing damage or injury : e.g. the violence of the rioters.
(This example is the most relevant to the discussion - making no reference to specifics and so pretty much everything is on the plate - setting fire to property, robbery of property, "mugging" which may involve physical blows and even use of a knife, club or firearm to intimidate and/or inflict injury. Then we have the specific use of a firearm with the intention to cause anything from grievous bodily harm to outright homicide.)

2.
a. Intense force or great power, as in natural phenomena: the violence of a tornado.
(This is pretty much self explanatory.)
b. Extreme or powerful emotion or expression: the violence of their tirades.
( Again fairly obvious - the use of words to cause emotional harm to a victim's psyche.)

3. Distortion of meaning or intent: do violence to a text.
(Probably of lesser importance but still applicable perhaps to the all too common uses of disinformation and misinformation, as practiced by much of main stream media these days.)

Why go through these definitions? Because, it should be apparent that #1 above is where the over used and infamous "gun violence" label lurks! .....