TL:DR Alcohol is destructive all of the time. Firearms can still keep society safer when used correctly.

To quote https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/alcohol/crimes/

"Nearly 10,000 people are killed annually on U.S. roadways due to alcohol-related accidents. Thousands more suffer from injuries due to intoxicated drivers. Close to 70 percent of alcohol-related violent acts occur in the home. Roughly 20 percent of these incidents involve the use of a weapon other than hands, fists or feet. An estimated 1.4 million incidents of alcohol-related violence are committed against strangers each year."

Also, an estimated 37% of rapes are committed by someone under the influence of alcohol. There's no data to suggest how many victims have been targeted because they were under the influence of alcohol, but it's safe to say that if everyone's sober, rape rates would go down.

Furthermore, an estimated 2/3 of domestic violence is perpetrated by a spouse or s/o who has been drinking. 4/10 child abusers admit to being under the influence of alcohol. 40% of homicides are committed during or after drinking.

And that's not even touching the fact that I've never seen evidence of alcohol having a constructive effect on society.

I posit that anyone who wants to make society safer should concentrate their efforts on alcohol, which only damages people and relationships. Firearms can be used defensively to keep society safer. A drunk woman can do little to fend off a rapist. A sober woman with a 9mm can destroy a rapist, saving not only herself but also any future victims of the scumbag.

Alcohol and firearms can both be detrimental to society in different ways.

• The two are pretty different things: firearms are physical weapons, while alcohol is an ingredient that causes the condition of drunkenness. Both can be non-detrimental — firearms can be used for recreation and in self-defence. And it's been suggested that alcohol [can have health benefits] (https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-alcohol-health-benefits) when consumed in moderation.

• You can see the case for each being detrimental to society pretty clearly — I just struggle with placing them side by side for comparison. Alcohol [causes a lot of deaths] (https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-facts-and-statistics), both self-inflicted and homicidal on a yearly basis, but a large part of its detrimental nature is how deeply embedded it is in society. Firearms are detrimental in a more cut-and-dry way: they are essentially weapons and can be used to kill people.

• It's hard to compare the two statistically because so many more people drink or have been drinkers in their lifetime ([85% of Americans] (https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-facts-and-statistics#:~:text=Prevalence%20of%20Drinking%3A%20According%20to,in%20this%20age%20group%20and)) than are gun owners ([32% of Americans] (https://news.gallup.com/poll/264932/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx)). You could use this to argue that alcohol is more of a problem — but this doesn't feel intuitively right to me.

• It's interesting that my initial response is: of course, guns are more dangerous than alcohol. I think this is because firearms are less normalised and woven into the fabric of society than alcohol is. I also think my hesitation is to do with how alcohol when consumed in moderation and non-dangerously, can be harmless and even beneficial. Whereas any use of guns — even as recreation or self-defence — is more discomforting to me because they are so obviously and inescapably weapons of harm.