Exactly

Responsible gun ownership...

If you've got kids in the house, when they are old enough to understand, explain guns and gun safety to them.

While growing up, my dad had shotguns, and handguns. I knew where they were - the handguns were locked up, and the longguns(shotguns/rifles) were hidden in the closet, with the firing pins removed/locked withthe handguns, and with trigger locks on them.

My dad could have left them loaded on the kitchen table and nothing would have happened though. I'd been trained in gun safety and had shot a rilfe, a .22, albiet small, still potentially deadly, from a young age - pretty good shot too

When I decided what gun I was going to buy, the next two weeks - before I bought my gun - went into deciding which safe I wanted to get. I bought the safe before I bought the gun - I don't even live with any small children, have an individually keyed room/lock, etc.


Now, the funny thing about trigger locks is that they don't actually prevent guns from being fired.



also, go to www.bowlingfortruth.com to de-brainwash yourself since you think MM tells 'facts'

 

Leaving anything dangerous around when there are small children in the house is irresponsible. It doesn't matter if it is a gun or a can of Drano. I would venture a guess that none of those guns were loaded and that the ammo was someplace where you couldn't get ahold of it.

 

I disagree.

I was shooting guns at 8 years old. If someone is homicidal, they'll find a way to kill, they don't need a gun.

 

do you have kids?

 

Oh, if it was only that simple. Some questions though...(I don't want to get into a MM debate)...How was the obtaining of the gun portrayed? Was it mentioned that it was stolen? Was it mentioned there was at least one other stolen gun in the house? Was it mentioned the shooter's family was living in a flop house where narcotics were found? Was it mentioned that one of the gun "owners" had a felony arrest warrant? I'm not asking, simply to be an ass, but those issues complicate your relatively innocuous questions.

In this particular instance, with all of the known facts, I don't believe that any piece of anti-gun legislation could have prevented this particular shooting. The gun was stolen, and the owner was a criminal. The last thought on his mind was "where is the gun lock?"

Gun ownership is a huge responsibility- just like owning a swimming pool, making sure your kids are wearing seatbelts, and keeping medications and poisons out of reach. Responsible gun owners will always be...well, responsible. But, there is no law that will keep the idiots in check.

 

I wasn't thinking of trigger locks per se, but of something as simple and cheap as a plastic child-safety latch. A 50¢ latch on the cabinet or drawer where the firearm is kept. It just seems so...pitiful...that a 50¢ latch could have saved that young girl's life.

And yes, I absolutely agree... the uncle of the shooter [to whom the .38 was registered] should have been vigorously prosecuted for depraved indifference or criminally negligent homicide.

 

i agree with your 2nd statement. but killing with a gun is a lot easier and quicker than almost any other creative method one might come up with.

i feel that way about kids having a gun at a young age because i'm scared of guns, to be honest.

 

Not the end all be all, but where were these kids parents? And why were they not able to discuss what was goin on in school with them? I cant help but to think that with supportive parents who are involved in their kids lives, that things may have been different.

In the Columbine case, the guns used were not the parents guns, but guns borrowed from another friend who possessed them. Even though I think trigger locks are a good idea, I dont think they would have made any difference in this case.

I know that sound idealistic, but if you are "stable" in a comfortable enviornment, Im pretty sure anyone would deffinately think twice before even attempting to do something like that.

 

Mandi, I think it depends a lot on the person. I learned how to shoot before I was 10 and had my own guns at 14. I never shot anyone. In HS I was on the rifle team and we were allowed to bring our own guns to school, unloaded of course. On the other hand there are probably some 50 year olds that aren't mature/responsible enough to own a gun.

 

i understand that completely..but like i said, my opinion is based on teh fact that guns scare the shit out of me. I've been around them my whole life adn have seen too many bad things happen with them...