There can be few words in the entire English language that are as routinely abused as “safety.” Unlike some other words, which are merely stretched or twisted or pinched until they bulge, “safety” in its modern incarnation is often used to convey precisely the opposite meaning to the one that has been traditionally understood. 

As kids, we sang that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” but today we are told that words are violence and violence is mere expression. Historically, a place was deemed hazardous if certain people were excluded from it; today, we are told that the mere presence of disfavored types renders everyone else “unsafe.” And then, of course, there are the gun-controllers, who, in their attempt to steal a base in the debate, have taken an imperative concept—“gun safety”—and ruthlessly subverted it to their own ends.

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