Gun Control thread (merged many)

[Commander Wallace]

Originally Posted by HunterICX

Answer me this as I'm not really familiar on this.

If a kid grabs his dad's gun (the licensed gun owner) and the kid goes to his school and starts a shooting and then ends his life. Is his dad going to be held accountable for not having his gun locked away safely from others?

To answer this, If someone makes the choice to have a weapon in their home for protection or sport or any other number of valid reasons, They have an ethical, moral and of course legal responsibility to make sure the weapons in question are secured. If you have a child or children, then the gun owner may want to reevaluate the merits of having a weapon at home or elect to either get rid of the weapons or take increased actions to make sure they are secured. Again, it's a question of accountability and being a responsible gun owner.

Should the parent be held responsible ? In most jurisdictions, sanctions in the form of the filing of criminal charges will most likely be filed for failing to secure the weapon used. It's simple, if you have weapons which are relatively expensive to own, invest the same amount of money to make sure they are secure.

This is a different matter relative to holding a legally authorized gun manufacturer or seller legally responsible for a death or accident once it has left their respective factory or store and beyond their control.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Commander Wallace

legal responsibility to make sure the weapons in question are secured.

Does this not vary state to state? In fact I think that Massachusetts is the only state that requires firearms to be in a locked safe or stored with a trigger lock. More states require that licensed dealers sell locking devices with the weapon, although out of those states most of those are for handguns only, and few of them apply the same law to private dealers, and out of those only a few require the locks to be approved or to meet certain standards.

In the UK, the law is that:

“The firearms and ammunition [or shotguns] to which the certificate relates must at all times (except in the circumstances set out in paragraph (b) below) be stored securely so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, access to the firearms or ammunition by an unauthorised person.”

and

“Where a firearm or ammunition [or shotgun] to which the certificate relates is in use or the holder of the certificate has the firearm with him for the purpose of cleaning, repairing or testing it or for some other purpose connected with its use, transfer or sale, or the firearm or ammunition is in transit to or from a place in connection with its use or any such purpose, reasonable precautions must be taken for the safe custody of the firearm or the ammunition.”

http://basc.org.uk/firearms/firearm-...hat-do-you-do/

[Commander Wallace]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Does this not vary state to state? In fact I think that Massachusetts is the only state that requires firearms to be in a locked safe or stored with a trigger lock. More states require that licensed dealers sell locking devices with the weapon, although out of those states most of those are for handguns only, and few of them apply the same law to private dealers, and out of those only a few require the locks to be approved or to meet certain standards.

In the UK, the law is that:



and



http://basc.org.uk/firearms/firearm-...hat-do-you-do/

I'm not as sure as the legal implications varying from state to state. Maybe someone here can answer that one. Generally speaking, if the weapons were not secured properly, count on law enforcement asking some tough questions. As far as owning weapons, I think there is a fundamental moral question that transcends what is legally required.