How can we encourage safe storage?

[gejohnston]

How can we get people to move their guns from those pretty wood and glass cabinets to safes? It isn't just about small children finding a loaded one, although 62 per year are 62 too many, the larger issue is this:
Most crime guns enter the black market through theft. according to the, rather old, Wright-Rossi study, five out of six. That was before NICS. That is also the main reason most countries have safe storage laws.

https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=155885

[Duckhunter935]

1. Some kind of a real

tax rebate or voucher to make them very cheap to purchase. Good safes can get very expensive and pistol lock boxes should be almost free.

[msongs]

2. how bout life without parole for any owner whose weapon gets used in a killing? nt

[SQUEE]

4. far too many variables.

That said .. willful negligence and unsecured with a child in the home? Involuntary manslaughter. Much like children left alone or in hot cars. It really seems to have lessened those tragedies in the SW of the U.S.. not eliminated sadly but real prosecutions would have a positive effect

[Duckhunter935]

5. well I am sure some

would like to tax them more as they are used with guns

[Boom Sound 416]

12. Mandatory minimums have done enough damage

[SQUEE]

3. I like the idea of credits.

It works for tankless water heaters and energy efficient windows.
Surely lives saved are worth just as much today as 10-15 years later.

[SheilaT]

6. Honestly, it will probably take a carrot and stick combination.

Some sort of realistic incentives to get people to lock up, and very strong penalties for those who don't.

[Common Sense Party]

7. Buy a gun safe, get a case of .22 ammo. nt

[Eleanors38]

9. HA! That might work.

[ErikGuard1]

14. I'd Buy 2!

.22 is still hard to find here but you cant swing a dead cat without hitting a safe.

[Common Sense Party]

16. I think it'd be the only way I can get some plinking ammo. nt

[Eleanors38]

8. Persuade MSM and major event sponsors to air ads advocating

for the use of safes in the home. Instead of treating guns as something where people avert their eyes, T.V., newspapers, major on-line sites should be openly supporting safe gun storage as a central component of gun culture. Put another way, there really should be a Super Bowl ad for safe gun storage.

A far-out idea, put into a building code the requirement a safe or equivalent hardened & fireproof "closet" be part of new construction. It doesn't have to be used as a gun safe, but it certainly should meet the standards for one.

Improve quality standards for lock boxes. A quick parousal of some web sites reveals complaints about modern lock box reliability & functionality. Some of these are Cali-approved products.

[ileus]

10. I moved mine from wood and glass after a B&E

where the neighbors kid stole my wife's purse.


Now I have all mine in three different safes...gave away my gun cabinet when I moved.

[NYC_SKP]

11. Those who seek to stigmatize all things gun won't stand for anything positive. Here's why:

They would be against, for example, public service announcements encouraging safe storage. Why?

Because it would make gun ownership seem NORMAL and OK.

Can't have that.

It's identical to the RW resistance to safe sex programs, it's really just the same thing.

But to answer the question, I'd use PSAs and try to find ways to lower the price, maybe support selling safes and locks at cost with the difference being made up through firearm or ammo purchases, or other funding schemes.

I most fear the homes that have firearms but little money to keep them safe, so I'd support helping them become affordable.

Of course people would have to actually USE these things, so comprehensive safety messaging should be part of the solution.

[ManiacJoe]

13. WA state waives the sales tax on gun safes.

It's a good start, but the cost of a gun safe is still quite high.

[SQUEE]

15. I have the cost of a VERY good used car or truck tied up in my 3.

But since I am in the NFA game, its a requirement, I knew it going in and have been dilligent on watching for deals as people changed thier circumstance and storage need.

[beevul]

17. It is noteworthy that the most outspoken "gun violence prevention" advocates here are silent...

It is noteworthy that the most outspoken "gun violence prevention" advocates here are silent on this.

It lead one to draw a conclusion that they're only interested in ways of reducing gun violence, which involve limiting the rights of people where guns are concerned, and/or limiting what guns they can own.

Oh wait...their SOP in bansalot indicates that as well.

Nevermind.