[david38]

It’s a cause. Likewise, people have been dying long before the development of guns.

[Maursault]

They likely weren't dying from gunshot wounds.

[zaptrem]

They were, however, dying from organ failure and blood loss.

[Maursault]

Also, some drowned, some burned to death, some fell from a great height, some were trampled, some buried alive. Hardly any were killed by metaphor.