From rosserjb at jmu.edu Tue May 4 12:45:07 1999
The more expert they claim to be, the more stupid they sound.
And yet ...
My half-uncle was accidentally killed at the age of ten by a
neighbor kid. They were playing with a family hand gun and did
not know that it was loaded. Now, Jordan, or some other
brilliant expert, might tell us that gee, we should all have
extensive gun training so that we all learn not to do that.
But, gee, even geniuses get careless.
All I'm saying is that guns or no guns, accidents happen. Both the death rate and the total number of deaths from accidents with guns in the US has been steadily dropping for the last 100 years. This is a combination of product safety, awareness, and other smaller factors, but: DESPITE seeing the numbers of guns available skyrocket, it is true that accidental gun deaths are rare and rarer each year.
I agree that safety training is important; why any adult would leave a loaded gun in the vicinity of a child is beyond me. I'm all for holding parents responsible for these situations, and I'd reccomend that gun owners who have childern around their house keep guns locked and safe when they are not in the house. People who have a loaded weapon in the house for defensive purposes shouldn't be so lazy.
There was just such a case recently in Berkeley; a neighbor kid killed his friend with a loaded, unlocked handgun while daddy was at work. Interestingly, mommy sued the gun manufacturer, at the urging (and bankrolling) of HCI. Even in Berkeley, clearer heads prevailed and they lost. I'm surprised, however, that daddy wasn't charged -- California has a handgun-child-safety law on the books.
I guess I mentioned this before, but despite the gravity of your loss, your conclusion:
If the fucking gun had not been there in the first place, it
would not have happened.
... is simply not supported by the numbers.
Barkley Rosser (for a weapon-free society, and I mean a
completely weapons-free society!)
It's a beautiful vision, man.
But get this: guns exist. For 10,000 years men have been trying to find ways to kill other men. Yesterday it was spears; today it's guns; tomorrow I suppose it'll be lasers.
It is not the gun. It is the man.
This just in: Man deliberately plows car into day care playground
http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,45357-73176-528342-0,00.html
/jordan