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Assuming you're not a native speaker, that's an example of synecdoche. Just like The White House does not issue proclamations (it refers to the person occupying

• morganvachon 10y ago
  The issue is that anti-2nd Amendment folks always want to simply ban guns period, as if that will make the problem go away, hence they use the term "guns kill people". They literally fear the gun itself, not the person holding the gun, and that's a serious problem. The people who say "the White House" in your example indeed don't blame the building for what goes on inside, however the people who chant "guns kill people" invariably believe that the gun itself is to blame, rather than the person behind it. It's irrational and nonsensical, but go into any debate about gun issues and you'll see it all day long. I recall recently seeing a video (by a progressive minded producer) who laid out several "mean" looking guns (black synthetic stock, picatinny rail, etc) that were actually low power, single shot or limited capacity target guns (one was a BB gun), next to old-fashioned looking but semi-automatic and high powered rifles much more capable of harming large groups of people. Invariably the gun hating types picked out the less harmful weapons as "scary" and said they shouldn't be produced, while they were not nearly as frightened of the wooden stock weapons designed to shoot up to thirty rounds in as many seconds before reloading.