Journal damn_registrars's Journal: Slashdot Conservatives Take a Stance Against Responsibility 4
In the discussion this week on "smart" guns, someone brought up holding gun owners responsible for what their guns are used for. I have been emphatically in support of such measures for some time, and brought it up in response. The number of people who came out to denounce personal responsibility was a bit disturbing.
I never once advocated for taking peoples' guns away, yet several replies claimed otherwise. I simply advocated for criminal charges when people are criminally negligent with their weapons. The rate at which children are killed or greatly wounded by unsecured weapons in this country is at least one child per day. Plenty of people have claimed this to be an insignificant number but more importantly I would like to point out these are 100% preventable deaths that I am concerned with.
You want to own guns? Fine with me. You want to own lots of guns? That's fine, too. You want to carry guns? As long as you have the license of your state, I don't care. I just want you to be responsible with your guns. Don't leave loaded weapons sitting around where people can get them. This is really, really, simple. I'm a gun owner myself, I keep my guns far far away from kids.
I never once advocated for taking peoples' guns away, yet several replies claimed otherwise. I simply advocated for criminal charges when people are criminally negligent with their weapons. The rate at which children are killed or greatly wounded by unsecured weapons in this country is at least one child per day. Plenty of people have claimed this to be an insignificant number but more importantly I would like to point out these are 100% preventable deaths that I am concerned with.
You want to own guns? Fine with me. You want to own lots of guns? That's fine, too. You want to carry guns? As long as you have the license of your state, I don't care. I just want you to be responsible with your guns. Don't leave loaded weapons sitting around where people can get them. This is really, really, simple. I'm a gun owner myself, I keep my guns far far away from kids.
More cowbell! (Score:2)
And dial it up to 11teen. But I suspect even that won't get through to people who have knee-jerk responses, as was very evident in the thread.
As of May 1st (Score:2)
For those who may want to say that this somehow discredits my earlier claim that we average around 1 case per day of a child being killed or injured by a weapon left out by an idiot, remember:
Smart guns (Score:2)
I think they'd be very well suited to the police and military, and should be offered for sale even though almost nobody would buy them. They shouldn't be mandatory. And you already have child endangerment laws for when a toddler gets shot, but they just don't get prosecuted. We don't need more laws, we need better prosecutors who will take these morons on.
Re: (Score:2)
And you already have child endangerment laws for when a toddler gets shot,
I would advocate for stepping it up beyond that. Child endangerment should apply if an everyday object causes death or injury to a child, or if someone leaves a child unattended longer than they ought to and the kid accidentally floods the bathroom. Child endangerment can even apply to someone who forgets to buckle their child in when they get in the car and then goes off on a normal drive. What we see on a daily basis in this country is beyond that. Way, way, beyond that.
We don't need more laws, we need better prosecutors who will take these morons on.
That is essentially what I hav