James V. Franco: We don't need more gun control

[Atypical Liberal]

http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2010/12/30/opinion/doc4d1b8bd20d218416017999.txt?viewmode=fullstory

While I agree with his premise about gun control, I disagree with locking up firearms.

As a child, I was trained with firearms from an early age. I got my first firearm, a Ruger 10/22 rifle, for Christmas when I was about 11. But I played with my father's firearms when I got home from school.

Once, the neighbor kid and I blew one of those giant Styrofoam gliders to smithereens using one of my Dad's shotguns. He stood behind me and launched the glider over my head, and when it passed overhead and sailed out in front of me I blast it. Turned it into snow.

I wanted to get a combination padlock off of my bicycle once, so I took my dad's .44 mag carbine and shot it off. The resulting shrapnel pierced and flattened the front tire.

I took the gunpowder out of shotgun shells and the unfired brass of a shotgun shell and turned a model rocket into a rocket-propelled mortar.

Now I was always aware of the safety concerns in what I was doing, so even though I was playing, I always observed good muzzle control, and target and backdrop awareness, so I never caused any damage or injury.

But the bottom line is, I know from personal experience that kids will play with dangerous things. And of course the news conveys this, also. Frequently, due to ignorance or a sense of invulnerability, it ends in tragedy.

Before I had children, I was of the mind of "don't lock up your firearms". What good is a firearm when you need it if it is locked up?

It's true, that locking up your firearms does give you a handicap should you need them in an emergency. But the truth is, for me, I've never needed to use a firearm defensively in my entire life. I've been fortunate in always living in nice neighborhoods with low crime.

So after I had children, it occurred to me that I'm much more likely to find my children playing with my firearms than I am likely to find myself needing them in a hurry to fend off a criminal. So, when my oldest turned 2, I went out and bought a gun safe. It's nothing fancy, just one of those $150 Stack-On safes that is little more than a lockable file cabinet. I'd like a real, fireproof safe but I can't afford $2000 or so for a good one. But what I have will keep inquisitive kids out.

It is a trade-off. I'm hopeful that if someone breaks into my home that I will have sufficient warning to be able to unlock and get to my firearm. But I could never forgive myself if my children killed each other or another child because I had not secured them.

I'm not in favor of a law to mandate such storage. Not everyone has the luxury of living in low-crime places like I do, and not everyone has children. So people should be able to make the choice for themselves. But I think if you have children in the home, you should lock up your firearms. If you are really concerned about needing quick access, get a quick-access safe.

[RSillsbee]

1. I agree that weapons you aren't using should be locked up

Maybe you could look in to a pistol safe for your nightstand.

[RamboLiberal]

2. I'm of the mind if children are in the house

Even if they are trained in firearms safety the firearms should be locked up. If you feel you might need quick access to the firearm either carry it while you are awake or have in same room you are in. Otherwise lock it in a quick access safe.

I was a kid once & I know there is a tempation & a curiousity with firearms for most children. I'll admit to checking out my grandfather's unloaded 38 revolver & his rifles & shotguns when the adults were somewhere else. I never took them out of a room, had any tempatation to load them, never showed to friends, never pointed them at myself, another person or pet, or took them out to play but I still checked them out & if my parents would've found out I'd have gotten a spanking and that was probably the greater fear than the guns.

When the kids are teens & they are home alone you have to make your own decision whether you trust allowing the teen to access the firearm in case of a break in or if that risk is outweighed by the thought there is a danger of misuse by the teen.

I attended the funeral of a 12 year old killed on a school holiday by a friend carelessly playing with his older brother's rifle which was under a bed loaded.

In my area just in last couple of months 2 police officer's kids accessed their dad's firearm & shot themselves. 1 died, 1 was wounded.

We had a case of a Republican lawmaker's son being home alone with a handgun and his friend got the firearm and committed "suicide" - supposedly. There was some doubt in that one.

We've had a couple of other cases of teens in rural areas being alone with a firearm, playing with it and killing a friend.

And I've read of cases where a teen or kid was able to get the firearm and defend their home, even their parents.

Glad I'm not a parent and have to make that decision, but if I was I'd err on the side of caution and make sure the firearm was locked up if I wasn't carrying it.

[Atypical Liberal]

3. My sentiments also.

I was very well trained in firearms safety and I still played with them, as I noted in my original post. Now because of my training, my "play" was always "safe", if stupid. But not all kids who find guns have that kind of training, as we see all to well.

Kids just don't have good judgment. Lock up your guns.

[mvccd1000]

6. Safe?

I'm not sure I'd go that far, based on your own descriptions:

I wanted to get a combination padlock off of my bicycle once, so I took my dad's .44 mag carbine and shot it off. The resulting shrapnel pierced and flattened the front tire.

Not exactly something I'd brag about when I'm attempting to highlight my safe habits around firearms; that "resulting shrapnel" could just as easily gone back toward you, or off in another direction toward someone else. I'd say you're lucky that a tire was the only thing damaged.

[Euromutt]

7. Generally good points, to which I would add one thing

If you have firearms in the house with minors, it can't hurt to reduce the temptation by satisfying the curiosity. That is, if your kid's interested in your guns, make it clear to him(/her) that he's welcome to ask to handle one of your firearms, unloaded, under your immediate supervision. Take it as an opportunity to explain the workings of the gun, what it can and can't do, how to handle it safely. There's no better counter to the deleterious effects of TV and movie gunplay than teaching the kid to do it better than the actors, and know it. But if the kid handles the gun in an unsafe manner, give one warning, and if he persists, return the guns to the safe until another day.

I need to give credit to Janis Cortese for this advice: http://www.io.com/~cortese/firearms/index.html#kids

[PavePusher]

4. If you wish to have quick access to a self-defense firearm...

it should be in a retention holster on your belt, thus under direct control.

The rest should be appropriately secured.

[safeinOhio]

5. Cheap security measures.

Even a yappy, alert little dog will give you time to retreat to a safe place or open a safe. For under a couple hundred bucks you can make it hard and loud for anyone to break in while you are in a sound sleep. Even better, it can make a crook move on to the next house without the "alarm" signs all over.
I live alone with no kids or grand kids coming around. Still, I have a safe room to retreat to with motion lights, signs and stickers and secure doors and windows. I own many guns, but the last thing I EVER want to do is shoot and kill someone. The price of lawyers, clean up and shrinks is much greater than "cheap home security". Please google that. For the price of a few boxes of ammo, you can save a ton of money in the long run.

[aikoaiko]

8. Agreed. Lights, locks, and alarms are very helpful in protecting family and home.

Far too many people think lights, locks, and alarms are sufficient, however. I suppose they are for them.

We all make choices -- economic, moral, legal choices when it comes to defending ourselves.

[Euromutt]

9. While all perfectly true, it's not really relevant to the topic, is it?

I mean, the topic is based on the assumption that you already possess a firearm, and asks whether any useful purpose is served by imposing a legal requirement to store guns in a certain manner, even when the concerns prompting such a law don't apply to you (e.g. there are no kids living in the house).

[SteveM]

10. My Dad saw to it that we kids were familiar with guns at an early age...

We shot a .32 snubby, .22 H&R target pistol, shotguns, a Marlin 336 in .35 REM, and other guns, and we hunted. We never really had a great desire to "show off" our guns to other kids; it just wasn't very interesting. Dad didn't lock up his revolver at night, and neither did his sons. I can't recommend that policy with everyone, things were different in the 50s and 60s. But it is wise to familiarize your kids with guns if you own them, and to provide proper direction to them if they become interested in guns, even if you don't own them; there must be a reasonable alternative to the crap they see about guns on T.V., in the movies, and when playing video games.