On Gun Control

I saw this article on our local news yesterday, and it made me sick to my stomach. In case you don't feel like clicking a link, here's the story.

A 2-year-old Sanford boy was killed late Wednesday morning in what authorities have labeled an accidental shooting.
Details were not immediately clear, but Sanford police Capt. David Smith said the child or another child in the home at 522 Cannon Circle got hold of a gun and that it was fired. The boy was shot in the head.
"It’s obvious someone left an unsecured weapon,” Smith said. “We don’t know if the toddler shot himself or if one of the other children in the house was playing with the gun.”
Two other children, ages 3 and 4, as well as the boy's mother, Melanie Tyson, were at the residence at the time. His father, Joey Tyson, was at work. Police did not release the name of the child.
Emergency workers responded to the report at 11:13 a.m., and the child was taken to Central Carolina Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Smith did not speculate as to whether the boy's parents will face any charges.
“I don’t want to be premature and talking about charges until we finish our investigation,” he said.

This? This is not ok. And this is why, yes, I absolutely believe that we need tighter gun control laws in this country.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say this: I admit that I have a somewhat irrational fear of guns. I've never touched a gun in my life, and never want to. When my school decided to take one semester of 7th grade Phys. Ed. and offer "Hunter's Education" class instead, I had my mom write me a note saying that it was against my beliefs. They let me take study hall for that period. I hate guns, I wish they didn't exist.

I think that if you want to own a gun for hunting, fine. It's not my personal hobby, but whatever. If you want a handgun for "personal protection," I think that's ridiculous, but I also realize that it's easy for me to say that from my very safe, upper-middle class neighborhood. I think the idea of anyone owning an automatic rifle is absolutely obscene, and that no one needs an AK-47 outside of a military context.

That said, in spite of all my personal wacky liberal views on guns, I'm not stupid. There's never going to be any real anti-gun legislation that gets passed in this country. For Christ's sake, people show up with loaded assault rifles at town hall meetings when the topic is health care of all things. Try to imagine the reaction if Obama wanted to talk about passing restrictions on gun ownership. Armageddon? Probably close.

But look, there has to be some middle ground here to put an end to these types of horrible accidents. Like oh, I don't know, maybe requiring gun owners to take a basic gun safety course? Or passing a law that if you have a gun and there are children in the house, you also have to buy a lock like this for it?

And I know that all of you conservatives are all about "personal responsibility!" and "I don't want the government passing laws that restrict my freedom!" or whatever the hell your argument is. (Although, ironically, when the issue comes to either abortion rights or gay marriage, y'all want to slap a whole bunch of laws all over that shit. Which makes no sense to me at all, but that's neither here nor there.) But is this really all that different than being required to pass a test before you can get a driver's license, or laws that require car seats to keep your kids safe? I don't see anyone at the DMV with a protest sign, claiming that their personal freedom is being infringed upon.

I'm not unsympathetic to the family in this tragedy. Obviously I have no idea what it's like to lose a child - there are other people out there who know that type of pain, and I'm truly thankful that I don't. I don't think they're bad people, I'm sure they had a gun because they wanted to keep their family safe. But to not only have lost a child, but to also know that you're the one who brought home the weapon that killed your child? I don't know how you go on with your life after that. There has to be something that can be done to prevent these types of tragedies from occurring. There just has to be.

Cindy has lived in the Triangle since August 2008. Originally, she's a Southern native (Mississippi girls, holla!) who spent the better part of the last decade in Seattle, where she met a cute British guy, married him, and had a beautiful baby girl. Since they had a kid, they decided that Seattle was too far away from their families, so they relocated. They're enjoying life in NC, even though they both whine about the heat during the summer. Cindy blogs at PooBou.com, and is @poobou on Twitter.

Comments

[Cyndi]

Agreed -- don't know why anyone wants a gun in the house when they have children (of any age). And I really really (thankfully) can't imagine what that family is going through now.

On an unrelated note, welcome to TM!

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=507800933]

This is awful. This is a tragedy. There is no way I would minimize it in the least. However, let's get some perspective.

In the US Census Bureau Statistical Abstract for 2009:

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/births_deaths_marriages_divorces.html... Read More

are the latest available figures for deaths (2005).

In the category of accidental deaths from birth to age 14, there were 75 from accidental discharge of firearms. There were 82 from falls and there were 810 from drownings.

All I'm saying is that the world is an awful brutal place, some brutality is the fault of man, some brutality is because of natural happenings and some brutality is just accidental tragedy. Stuff happens and bad stuff happens to good people.

We should always do the best we can to eliminate tragedy where we can. But it is our misconception, naivete and arrogance that we can rid the world of tragedy if we just do the right things.

[ilinap]

Hear! Hear! I hate guns and don't see a need for them in the home. Period. If you hunt, go to the vault and check out your weapon and return it when you're done. I know no such vault exists, but it should. Tragic. Tragic. Tragic.

[Don Tremaine]

There are two sides to the gun story. It's not just about the fact that there are accidents involving guns. There are millions of defensive cases each year that potentially saved lives. Cars are big killers, but most people would agree that these are simply accidents and what can be done to help this situation. You need to put this into perspective. Fear of tools (guns in this case)is not normal. This fear is a result of ignorance, (lack of knowledge). There are so many ways that people can die through accidental events. It's It is not reasonable to single out one of the safer objects to ban because of fear.
Don

[marty]

Points taken, but as far as cars go, we require people who drive to pass a test and obtain a license stating that they are capable of driving.

There is currently a hand gun in our home. It is locked in a safe, and there is no ammo in the house. For various reasons - the first being that I have no training to use it and there are children in the home.

The problem as I see it is that certain objects, in this case, guns, are dangerous. Cars were designed to provide transportation and unfortunately cause harm and death sometimes in the process.

Guns were designed to hurt, maim, and kill. That is their function. I don't see how a fear of that is irrational. The purpose of a gun, whether you use it for protection, hunting, or criminal activity, is violent. There is no side stepping that fact.

[Don Tremaine]

Marty,
First of all, there is no mention in the Bill of Rights about driving a car. If cars existed in 1776 they would have been included. Registering or banning guns is just not legal. Have you ever heard of "Prior restraint"? You can't be punished because you either have the means to commit a crime or someone thinks you could or would commit a crime.

Guns are not necessarily meant only to hurt, maim, and kill. There are millions of events every year where citizens stop a crime with a gun without ever firing a shot. Your idea of guns only having a purpose of violence is strange. I mostly use my firearms for recreation. I love to shoot clay birds, target shooting, collecting, gun smithing....

A gun that is sitting on a table will hurt no one; a person must pick it up and do something stupid for an innocent to die or be harmed.

I fear cars more than guns, because good people with guns are very safe. On the other hand good people are too caviler about cars. The reason that so many die by cars is the fact that people are not respectful of the dangers cars represent. Oh it was just an accident and I'm sorry the other person died. Try that with a gun, dead is dead. The death tolls from gun accidents is very low statistically compared to slipping in the tub.
Guns is general are not dangerous it's criminals misuse that is the problem.
Did you know that in places where gun registration is required, even though that is illegal, criminals are are not required to register any guns. The 5th amendment protection does not require them to incriminate themselves. Isn't registration supposed to help the police find bad guys. How does it help the police if only the honest citizens register their guns and no criminals do?

Do you know why there is a right to keep and bear arms? It's to protect you from the government. Every country that has turned into a totalitarian regime has used gun registration records to confiscate guns. I am extremely suspicious of politicians that are anti-gun; what is their real agenda?

It is the personal responsibility of every gun owner to learn gun safety. Both of my children were taught gun safety from a very young age. Both started to shoot at the age of four under my close supervision. My son is now 36 and is the safest person I have ever met with a gun. He can not remember when he did not handle guns. This is an America tradition.
Don

[wholesale sunglasses]

How do you display the number of comments left on a post. It’s a great theme but I really need an easy to way let people comment and show people how many comments have been left.