Of course speech kills. Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, et. al - one man with a mind and a voice can be the most dangerous thing in the world.
What Magilla said.
Do you think Hitler pulled all those triggers and gassed all those people?
Speech CAN kill. It can kill entire cultures and races.
That's why I need a gun and I want all of you, my neighbors, family and friends to own and practice with guns. Guns have been the great equilizer for 2+ centuries.
Free speech - the ability to say whatever you like - without a gun, a fist or a gang to back it up is an extremely rare thing in human existance.
Your friends' ability to criticize our government, trash American history and generally say what ever the he** they want is backed up by Cops, Bailiffs (protecting the courtroom where the ACLU lawyers practice and get paid by our tax dollars), Sheriffs and Military Personnel.
All of whom are packin'.
An even more difficult concept for your friends to grasp will be that that the entire concept of a limited government, one that CANNOT send in storm troopers to infringe upon certain rights, and one that must be democratically elected, is backed up by the right of average Americans to keep and bear arms. A force no Army could ever match.
What seems like a "small" or even "reasonable" infringement like the AWB or gun registration to a non-gun person is historically proven to be a
good first step toward totalitarian rule.
Keep in mind: Totalitarians in Germany, Cambodia, China, Soviet Union and other places do not rule without a very strong base of support. Totalitarian regimes do not just spring up out of nowhere or invade from outside. The people rounding others up for execution were their former neighbors and friends.
I'm not saying that your friends are interested in genocide, but we are straddling the pinnacle of human achievement. The biggest food crisis in the Western world is OVEREATING! In all but the last 20 years of human existance, the fact that every person in a country has more than enough food, and the poor are subsidized to the point that they can actually be considered FAT, would be deemed Utopia. Yet, we have people fighting this unbridled prosperity. This all balances on a tax base of free commerce, optimism and continual financial growth.
We are standing on the shoulders of giants, but I personally do not think it would take a lot to knock it down. Just imagine a nuclear version of 9/11, a power grid failure for one week, or a Great Depression 2. Once the bubble bursts, it's people like Hitler, Mao, Stalin, etc. that pick up the pieces by dividing and murdering.
When it gets to that point, it's either JOIN or DIE.
The bottom line: Do your friends want to rely solely on the kindness of strangers, politicians, cops and the military if a major catastrophe hits?
Will they remember the Bill of Rights or join the new regime?