1. Do guns kill?
2. No! A gun having no live ammunition will not kill.
1. So is it the bullet that kills?
2. No! A bullet by itself is useless, unless you place it on a slingshot or threw it really really hard. It needs to be pressed into a cartridge containing powder and a primer.
1. Ah, so it's the cartridge doing the killing.
2. No! A live cartridge needs a person to feed it into a gun, lock it in, set safety in the "fire" position, and depress the trigger.
1. Are you saying people are responsible for deaths related to firearms?
2. Yes! Some of the deaths are because of war, some are attributed to the police firing back after being fired upon, and some are law-abiding citizens defending their lives, families, properties, etc. Then there is a small percentage of those who kill in order to take from others, or kill because they're in a fit of uncontrollable rage, or because they just want a thrill. If a gun with live ammunition hadn't been in their possession, their method of murder would have been simply the next available weapon - a knife, a machette, a chain, a baseball bat.