Gun control

[Raeven]

RESPONSIBLE gun ownership is the key. I agree with those who have said guns should be safely stored if there are small children in the house. By age 7-8, it's time to start teaching them how to handle guns RESPONSIBLY. Guns should be put away when not in use and children should always be supervised when they are learning to shoot. Education, education, education.

Do you support laws to force people to take safety precautions if they have children? The people against this in the article claim that locking guns up makes it too difficult to get them in a moment of crisis. You thoughts?

Also, YOU may be responsible, but how do you know the adults in the houses your children play in are? Several parents in the article lost kids to guns in other people's houses. Doesn't this worry you as a parent?

And also, all the education in the world won't combat a teenager's depression. A family I know well lost their son when he shot himself- and no one knows why. He was as educated as possible, and these were very responsible parents. He had been moody, but not overly so- they just thought it was him being a teenager. They were going to go on a hunting trip over the weekend, and the boy asked his mother to get his gun out of the safe so he could clean it. She got him his unloaded gun and went to the kitchen to make lunch. He had stashed a few bullets, and he loaded it, went into the bathroom and shot himself in the head. He was 13. This was a boy who had responsibly hunted and killed many things with his very responsible parents. Some people might say that he would have done it anyway if he had no gun, but who can say? At least his mother wouldn't have had to see his brains in the shower.

In answer to your questions, in order, best I can:

I think laws forcing people to take safety precautions if they have small children are effectively unenforceable. What's the point, if the only time you enforce them is after a child has died? So no, I don't really see the point. It's closing the barn door after the horse already took a powder, or more accurately, one of those things that sounds like a good idea but as a practical matter has fully no effect whatsoever.

I agree, too, that keeping guns under lock and key with their magazines/ammunition kept separately under lock and key, renders them mostly useless in moments of crisis. Mine are MUCH more available to hand, though cleared and ammunition kept separate from the gun (except in one instance). But I live alone and have no small children. If small children are coming to visit, all my guns are immediately locked away, and children are not permitted to roam my home unattended.

If I DID have small children, however, they would be taught from their earliest age that guns are not toys. All guns would be kept locked away and separate from ammunition. They would be taught to immediately bring an adult to an unattended gun if they ever came across one -- not to touch it under any circumstances. I DON'T know how other people secure or don't secure their guns. Before I let a child play at someone else's house, I would make it my business to know that.

To me, guns are tools, like any other. We spend lots of time teaching our children to not touch hot stoves, not stick their fingers in light sockets, look both ways before crossing the street. There are a million things that can kill children, and we do our best to teach them the dangers of all of them. One of the differences, I think, is the extent to which guns are fetishized in this country. Americans think guns are SEXY. It's horrible, and changing that perception should be a priority.

I agree, however, that all the education in the world won't address depression. I do see that as a separate issue. Yes, it's beyond unspeakable that your friends had to find their boy in such a way, and clearly he worked hard to obtain access to his weapon. You yourself said who could say if he would have taken his own life if the gun had not been made available to him -- and who can? Before you think me heartless, I will share that I lost one of my very best friends the same way less than two years ago. I had cautioned her partner to get their guns out of the house. Her partner didn't heed my warning, and my friend took her life with a gun, also. But I've also known people who took a swan dive off the Golden Gate Bridge, put a plastic bag over their head and secured it to their neck with duct tape and one who purposely overdosed on sedatives. Suicides happen. I don't reflexively blame the gun.

And far more restrictive, stringent CCW regulations. I swear, anyone with enough box tops can get a CCW permit. It's outrageous. Comprehensive, thorough background checks for ALL guns sold should be a no-brainer.

What is CCW? And why do you think so many people object to this so strenuously, since I agree it's a no-brainer?

CCW = Carrying a Concealed Weapon. It's shorthand for having a permit to do so.

As for why some object strenuously to background checks, I think there is a vocal faction among gun owners who equate having their guns to living in their own personal Western. ANYTHING that they see as an encroachment on their rights is to be bitched about and resisted. Most of the gun owners I know have no problem with thorough background checks. I view those who object to them with extreme suspicion -- and I always hope they don't have a gun.

And personally, I have no problem with limiting magazine capacity or eliminating all fully automatic weapons. No responsible gun owner or hunter needs that stuff. If I can't hit it with 10 rounds, I've got no business anywhere near a gun in the first place.

Do most gun owners agree with you on this, do you think?

Reasonable gun owners have no objection. The Posse comitatus crowd start to froth at the mouth at the very notion. I think there is an even split among gun owners on these issues. Personally, I see absolutely no purpose for magazines to hold more than 10 rounds except if you're a lazy ass who can't be bothered to reload or switch out your magazines -- or you're on a killing spree. Neither of these reasons holds any sway with me. Limit them. It's the weakest start to dialing back some of the macho crap that's on the market. Problem is, those things are already out there... and they last forever.

Conversely, I'd like to see non-gun people learn more about the subject before trying to talk about it.

Thanks for helping me learn.

Truly, I hope I am helping you do that. Guns are neither the penis extenders a lot of men seem to think they are (not an issue for me, I'm a woman), and they are not the essence of all evil, either. Again, they are tools -- no more and no less. As with all tools, there are right and wrong ways to use them, store them, maintain them. And those of us who have the privilege of using them need also to keep our skills with them well honed, meaning practice and comfort with the tool. I hate having to euthanize an animal or even eliminate a predator -- but I hate the idea of only wounding them worse.