Avoiding a Gun Tragedy

This post is about gun safety, and avoiding a gun tragedy by locking up unused firearms.

As advocates of gun rights and personal responsibility, it’s extremely important that we understand that, with the right to bear arms, comes the vital obligation to treat those arms with great caution and respect for others. Let’s not pretty things up here: Guns are designed specifically to kill people and animals. You might use yours only at the shooting range and have never harmed a single creature with it, but it is still primarily a device for killing. Never forget that for one second. A gun in the wrong hands is about the most dangerous thing most of us are ever likely to encounter.

A stolen gun can very easily end up in the hands of a criminal, of course, but that’s not the only moral reason we need to make sure our pistols and rifles are locked safely in a well-secured gun cabinet. The papers are full of instances where improperly secured guns were stolen from various people and used in suicides. You do not want the pain of knowing that your carelessness with a gun made it easier for someone with severe psychological problems to harm or kill themselves or others. The person who stole your gun may be responsible for his or her own actions, though many of those suicides are committed by teenagers, but you are just as responsible for keeping your dangerous weapon far from the hands of a troubled person.

That’s why you want to keep careful track of the weapons in your possession and where and how they are secured. At home, there is never an excuse to leave a gun unattended anywhere outside of a safe or gun cabinet. When outside, on your way to a hunting trip or a visit to the firing range, keep your gun either with you or well secured in your vehicle at all times. This might sound like super obvious common-sense stuff, but you’d be surprised how uncommon sense can be sometimes.