On July 7th, 2016 I awoke to headlines about Philando Castile, a black man shot dead by police, scrolled quickly past gruesome videos of his death, and lingered on pictures of a kind-eyed Alton Sterling, also shot and killed by police this week. Before the day was through, one more headline, the same thing I’ve become accustomed to reading, the words just rearranged — another shooting.

This time, five police officers were shot to death by a sniper in Dallas, Texas. Then, as the sun rose the next day, another person fatally shot. A 7-year-old in Alma, Michigan accidentally killed his stepfather with a high-powered rifle.

As I write this, an officer in Ballwin, Missouri is fighting for his life after being shot in the neck during a traffic stop, the suspect was already on probation for a weapon violation when it happened.

Through all of the noise rattling back and forth there is one statement in particular that I see and hear over and over again: Blaming guns for gun violence is like blaming forks for obesity.

Wherever you stand on the issue of gun control, a basic history lesson will remind you that guns were created to maim, kill, and protect while forks were invented for eating food. Yes, more than one-third of Americans are considered obese thanks to their relationship to the fork, and yes, obesity-related diseases contribute to a majority of preventable deaths.

And yes, I completely understand that in saying this, a person is trying to make the point that guns don't kill people, people kill people. But we already know this. People have been killing each other since the beginning. Time and progress have just refined our abilities with access to faster, more lethal weapons - guns.

So of course we can blame guns for gun violence, after all, gun violence can't exist without the guns.

But since it’s actually come to comparing an eating utensil and a tubular weapon, here’s a list of the ways that forks and guns are nothing alike.

Forks Do Not Cause Mass Casualties

BBC News cited that last year alone, there were 372 mass shootings in the United States, accounting for 475 dead and 1,870 wounded.

People Don’t Set Out to Kill Each Other With Forks

People find all kinds of ways to kill each other, it’s true. From bombings and poisonings to stabbings and even vehicular homicide, the list goes on. But one weapon never once used in a documented murder? A fork. Firearms, however, accounted for 68% of all murders in 2011 according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Suicides by Firearm VS. Fork

Here is the CDC data on the number of individuals who committed suicide with a firearm in the United States in 2013: 41,149

Here is the number of individuals who committed suicide with a fork in the United States in 2013: 0

Concealed Carrying of A Fork Does Not Require a Special Permit

Presumably because the threat of death or serious injury by fork is rather low.

Forks Don’t Cause Violent Accidental Deaths in Children Who Live in Homes Where Forks Are Kept

However, in just one week this past April, four toddlers accidentally shot and killed themselves in separate incidents, all with a gun they’d found in their home.

Unlike Guns, There’s Virtually No Market for Illegal Forks

Frank Miniter, author of “The Future of The Gun” states in a piece he wrote for Forbes.com that “a Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of state prison inmates convicted of gun-related crimes determined that 79 percent of them bought their firearms from ‘street/illegal sources’ or ‘friends or family.’”

Forks Aren’t Regulated in Developed Countries - Or Really Anywhere, For That Matter

Australia, the UK, and Japan all carry strict gun-control laws, limiting the who, how, and when of gun ownership.

One last word about forks. They could be dangerous. When you think about it, beyond their contribution to weight-related illnesses and deaths, they’re made up of four tiny spikes that could easily be used to at the least maim a person whether purposefully or accidentally. And I’m sure that in isolated incidences that didn’t come up in my research, it’s happened. People have always displayed violence towards one another, with whatever means they have available and taking guns away isn't going to necessarily calm violent acts.

But when was the last time you were afraid to be pulled over by someone carrying a fork? Or nervous to attend an event where you felt you’d be an easy target for someone who had a fork? Were you ever afraid of your kid finding the fork at the bottom of your purse, or figuring out how to unlock the fork safe? Do you even have a fork safe?

So the next time someone tries to argue against gun control using a fork, just remind them that they can't eat cake with a gun.