How is a gun a 'tool'?

[Ryantology]

Show me an actual example of someone comparing a firearm with other tools and I'll gladly evaluate it. However, it is not true that most pro-gun people do this, and if the occasional nut does it, it really doesn't change my opinion of guns anyway.

All the direct examples you could want. And that doesn't count other, very similar, defenses of guns such as "well, you better ban cars, too" which are also very common and not exclusive to the nutjobs. And the only reason to do this is to suggest that guns are less dangerous than they really are, which strikes me as evidence of the sort of irresponsible attitude that should make one ineligible to possess one.

I think you're being pretty facetious. My understanding of Ryantology's OP was that he's pointing out the trivialisation that occurs when people compare firearms with other tools.

That is exactly the point I was making. If you compare a gun to any object which is not designed solely and specifically to maim or kill, your comparison is fundamentally dishonest.

I used the dictionary to point out that only the vaguest definition of 'tool' can apply to guns, but that's an aside. Words have common associations. When the term 'tool' is used as a comparison with guns, it is done with the expectation that the listener will mentally compare guns to things you buy at Home Depot, not with the expectation that they will take look at a dictionary and make a more nuanced evaluation of the statement.