Liberal fallacies: "If we can save one life..."

In 1999, Eric Holder gave a speech in which he said that we should shame gun owners and make the owning of guns no less "dirty" and "embarrassing" as smoking is, and that all we need to do is "brainwash" the youth to eliminate gun ownership in future generations.

Now, we have VP Joe "The Joker" Biden advancing Obama's argument that "If it only saves one life, it [gun control] is worth it."

For that to be a valid argument, it must be valid when applied more broadly. So let us consider what other legislative action would be warranted based on this fallacy:

- Ban abortions: Since the legalization of abortion in the US, approximately 50 million abortions have been performed.

- Ban unprotected sex, multiple partners, and injection needles: Worldwide, nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS-related causes.

- Ban tobacco: Approximately 443,000 Americans will die each year because of tobacco products.

- Ban exercise and sporting events: According to the CDC, approximately 400,000 Americans die each year during exercise, or a sporting event, or shortly thereafter. About 100,000 of these are under the age of 30.

- Raise the driving age: 5,000 teens ages 16 - 20 die each year due to fatal injuries caused by car accidents; about 400,000 of these young drivers will be seriously injured each year.

- Ban crossing the road: More than 4,000 pedestrians are killed each year.

- Ban alcohol: In 2010, 211 children were killed in drunk driving crashes. It is estimated that 300,000 incidents of drinking and driving occur each day and at least 27 people will die each and every day in America from drunk drivers.

- Ban unprotected sex: Nearly 4,000 women in America will die from cervical cancer, a cancer associated with HPV and contracted from unprotected sex.

- Ban doctors: Nearly 200,000 people will die each year due to medical errors in America.

- Ban knives: Nearly 2,000 people die each year in knife-related crimes.

- Ban being outside during stormy weather: Approximately 39 people die each year from being struck by lightning in America.

- Ban the use of ladders: Nearly 6,000 people die each year due to injuries sustained from tumbling off ladders.

- Ban the killer soda machine: About 2-3 people each year will die from being crushed by tilting a vending machine.

I'm sure we could add more to this list-- How many mothers die in childbirth? How many people die in police chases or shootings? How many die in the course of working on their car?-- but this is sufficient to demonstrate the inherent fallacy in the gun-grabbing left's argument that we should do whatever it takes to save just one life.