Think your responsible enough to own a gun?

Hey ATS... didn't really know where to post this, so mods feel free to move.

I just read an article that made me sick to my stomach. Details are still developing but nonetheless, a 5 year old girl was playing with a loaded hand gun in her parents room, seemingly unattended, and shot herself in the head with a .45 caliber. I am assuming she died instantly, but she was of course confirmed dead. Such a sad story for such a young family right after the holiday.

The Fremont County Sheriff's Office says Ruth Joy Wilson apparently shot herself in the head with a .45 caliber handgun that she found in her parents' upstairs bedroom.

Now as a strong supporter of the second amendment and proud gun owner, I firmly believe in the rights of individuals to own and posses a wide variety of firearms and exercise this 'god given right'. But this example is a case of gross negligence and shows the exact types of individuals that should not own guns - and consequently give gun owners a bad name. Most of us are responsible citizens, and I would argue that an armed society is much safer than one with restrictions.

Now I would think most of this is common sense, but obviously this happens on a regular basis. I would hope that most of you have the are smart enough to understand the importance of responsible firearm ownership, but I also believe it important to be refreshed from time to time.

And any individual that seeks to own a firearm should always understand the proper handling, storage, and use of such weapons. This is just a personal list, so feel free to add anything I may have left out.

1.) Never point a firearm at anything you do not intend to shoot
2.) Always leave the bolt open and the chamber clear
3.) Properly clean your firearm and regularly inspect
4.) Never hand off a loaded firearm to another, take the few extra seconds - at the very least to unload the chamber

AND last but certainly not least... If there are children or others around that you may not want to have access to YOUR firearm, use a proper locking device or store the firearm in a secure location that noone but yourself has access to.

That is all, just venting mostly from this story... But also wanted to get others opinions on the topic and advice for safe firearm ownership. I feel it is our responsibly as gun owners to promote the safe use and practices of such devices.

- aFTeRm4Th

First of all....my condolences to the family that lost their child.

....however. Guns are not toys. They deserve respect and care. If you treat a gun as a toy, and do not respect the dangers within, and safely store it from children, this is the outcome.

If we wish to continue our freedom to own guns, we must educate people on their dangers, and keep them locked away from children.

It is retards like that who give guns a bad name. I mean by law, trigger locks come free with a firearm so what the hell? I don't lock mine up but I don't have kids either. If ya have little ones around lock the damn thing up. And education plays a huge roll also. When I was young they brought guns into our schools and taught us about them. It is common sense really. I say teach your kids, when they hit 5ish, get them a bb gun, maybe a .22 when they are 10, etc. They will respect them once they learn. Its hiding guns from kids that sparks their curiosity. If you don't take your kids shooting its just cause your afraid they will shoot better than you!


U

Investigators have not yet decided if the Wilsons will face charges.

They freaking better.

How,hard,can,it,be,to,put,the,gun,somewhere,safe,maybe,up,high,and,dont,leave,a,ladder,next,to,it.
The,problem,is,the,people,who,need,these,instructions,probably,cant,read,them.

reply to post by xX aFTeRm4Th Xx


High Caliber Firearms should only be owned by a highly trained person, It is not every persons God given right to own and use a firearm, but everybody does have the right to train with Firearms in the hope of getting permission to carry.

Now this is where America has it wrong and Europe has it right, Firearms are freely given to average Americans with practically zero training other than having shot it in your back yard. To use a Gun safely one has to be shown by a proffesional or a military specialist on the use of Firearms and dedicate a large amount of time to the art of firing a Gun. Where as in England gun laws are much tighter and it is harder to acquire a Firearm but as a result only highly trained people possess Firearms and as a result I feel a whole lot safer, and the average Bill doesnt require a firearm to be able to police effectively(not that police are effective but anyways....)

Wow, we just had this type of discussion Christmas Eve with the family. (We are all pro gun)
My brother had to take his five year old son to a child psychologist when he separated from his mom. He explained his position on guns, as that was one of the mom's fears. The psychologist actually told him, the more exposure his son had, the better. He said it was best that he knew as much as he could understand, so he would not be "curious" like other kids his age. He is 6. I was surprised that the psychologist was using common sense.

These stories make me sick. Same as the Amish girl killed earlier this month from a so called accidental discharge from a guy cleaning his gun. No such thing as an accident with a gun unless its a malfunction. If you leave a firearm where a child can get your guilty of there murder when they shoot themselves or a friend. When you fire a firearm and someone dies its murder or justifiable homicide. I own guns along with pistols and safes to keep them in. Pistol safes all threw the house for my wife and I to gain access; said pistols all at condition 0. If you own a 500 dollar pistol whats 79 bucks for a biometric pistol safe easy to get to when the need arises.

This is a tragedy however this sort of thing is so rare it does not deserve the focus and attention. You just can't stop every idiot from harming himself or his family through stupidity. Thousands of children are killed every day by idiots driving cars and even by doctors far more then are killed in accidents like this how come there isn't a bunch of media attention on that?

I am sorry this child had to die because of the stupidity of his parents but we do not know the circumstances and this sort of thing is used to justify more government intrusions into our lives when there are so many more things that are far more dangerous then this and are killing children regularly.

Arkansas - when you fire a firearm and someone dies its murder.

This is a false statement. If I fire a gun in self defense and someone dies it is not murder. Maybe it was a slip of the tongue but statements like this make me question your credibility.

reply to post by xX aFTeRm4Th Xx


Excellent OP.

First and foremost:
1) Always treat every gun as if it is loaded at all times, whether you think it is or not!

(Just saying OP's #1 point a little differently, they way I was taught.)

2) Anytime kids or non-trained persons are in your home, you are responsible for ensuring that your firearms are under lock and key, or in a safe. You are very likely liable for firearm accidents in your home.

Somehow those rounds get in there and kill people. Those sneaky rounds can't be brought back once they leave the barrel. If we always respect that the muzzle shouldn't be pointed at someone/something we don't want to destroy (whether it's "loaded" or "not"), this accidental killing cr@p wouldn't happen.

If you leave a big sharp knife in the dish washer a 5 year old will find it and kill itself.


It all comes down to parents, parenting.

I lost a cousin because her parents left their 3rd story window open and she fell out the window.

Stupid parents = dead kids.

My daddy had his own three rules which he handed down to me, which I have handed down to my son... far as I know, they've been following my clan for generations.

1. Always treat every gun as though it were loaded and cocked.
   
2. Never point a gun at anything you do not intend to kill.
   
3. Only kill for food or self-protection; if you kill it and it ain't attacking, you eat it.

(That last one would really cut down the crime rate if we could enforce it.)

TheRedneck

I never grew up with trigger locks or locked gun cabinets. Parental responsibility was priority and would get my arse beat if I went near the gun cabinet without my Father. Lack of discipline from all authority has taken over instead of individual/parental authority.
Now leaving a 5 yr old alone period, even without a gun present, is asking for trouble.The parents should be held accountable, not the weapon or Amendment.

reply to post by xX aFTeRm4Th Xx



I disagree with a couple of your points. I keep firearms for personal protection I keep some cocked and locked with one in the tube. If I need it in the middle of the night I certainly do not want to have to cycle a round into the chamber and possibly give my position away to an intruder or worse get shot because he got the drop on me while I was cycling the action.

Second I have young grand children and yes when they are over I make sure they do not have access to any of my firearms but that does not mean they all need to be locked up to where It would take considerable time to get to them or unlock them. They just need to be kept somewhere the child does not have access to that I do have access to quickly if I need to. And sometimes that is on my person or on a high shelf they cannot get to etc.

The hype around this stuff is amazing. I grew up in a house with guns everywhere we were taught to shoot as soon as we were old enough so we had respect for firearms etc. I don't use trigger locks and guns in a safe are there for safe keeping not for when i need them for self defense. Self defense weapons need to be easily accessible and ready to go. It is possible to do that and still keep them out of the reach of young children to young to have access to them.

It is irritating that so many of the really, really, really stupid people are the ones who get blessed with children... while so many of those who might actually make excellent parents are childless.

it is every persons right to own a firearm! a kid shot themself it happens get over it,

stupid parents! whatever!!! but stop dictating what people should do with their guns or before you know it it will be law that you have to keep your gun in a special shop run by the government and you will only be allowed access to it if you turn up with 2 forms of id and a reason as to why you need it and a time when your gun will be back not to mention the rfid tracking device fitted in the handle.. so stop it people the government is winning here and these silly dumb gun storys are helping the government win

Just this morning I sat down my three kids and showed them an informational about firearm safety. They have all been shooting since they could walk but I drill safety into their heads. The little girl could have been saved if her parents would have taken the time to teach her instead of making guns taboo to her.

reply to post by Dionisius


Its a god given right to defend your own. The problem with people is; they have to think for themselves not the .gov thinking for them. Its a hard lesson to learn when your own kills oneself with your reckless inaction. The same could be said about driving a car. More people kill there fam. with a careless mistake driving. But thats the world we live in kids fall on a pair of scissors and die b/c there parents didn't keep them out of the sharps drawer. Kids die on there bikes. Kids die all the time b/c of careless parents. So just b/c guns have such finite outcome there sooo bad. ever wonder why they don't go after scissors and cars the same way. The gun can save your life just as quick as take it. The same for a car on the way to the hospital for a life threating accident and you crash and burn to death.

No question this is a tragedy......that being said.......

every time something like this happens it seems to trigger people to post "instructions" on how to handle guns for the rest of us. It does prove that these folks have managed to memorize the NRA talking points. Good for them. It would just be really nice of these people did not use tragedies like this to pontificate to the rest of us. It is condescending, and very likely people reading these posts know a whole ot more about gun safety than someone compelled to spout Firearms 101 rhetoric.

Just for an alternate view-

Think you're responsible enough to own a child?

It's easy to be responsible with a gun. They stay where you put them, you can just lock them up when you don't want to deal with them, and almost always do what they're told.

Being responsible for a kid? That's a whole other kettle of buffalo. My compliments to those who do it well.

I'll stick with guns. I'm not reponsible enough to own kids.

This was a tragedy that could have easily been avoided. A terrible shame.