In the NEWS - November 22, 2010

    I will periodically post my take on U.S. news stories concerning firearms. Today is the first installment of what I hope will become a regular (and popular) thing on this blog. So let's get it started!

 

Portsmouth teen sentenced in school shooting 

   In Virginia, a boy was sentenced to 10 years suspended and 10 years probation for taking a gun to school and discharging it into the air. (Click the headline above for the story as written.) 

     Question one is how did this boy get his hands on a firearm that was already loaded or had ammunition readily accessible?  As I just posted previously, one of the most important things we must do as gun owners is ensure that no unauthorized person can obtain our firearm(s). If there are children in the house, this is exponentially important. This kid was 15 at the time of the offense. Teenagers are by nature in a very transitional phase of maturity. They often act without first weighing the consequences and wear their hearts on their sleeve. With small children, having a gun on a tall shelf might cut it, but for a teen that is not secure enough. While the teen is the perpetrator, one must wonder if the gun owner is also to blame. If the kid managed to crack a locked safe, then you might have an argument against that. But if it was just in a nightstand drawer with no lock? 

    Another factor here is that this kid obviously was not taught proper respect for a firearm. Kids should not learn everything they know about guns from television. The only exception to that I can think of is the Eddie Eagle video that the NRA used to circulate for young children. 

Bottom line here is that an ounce of prevention can be a ton of protection. Educate kids that firearms are not to be handled except by responsible adults. Find a way to get through to them how to RESPECT guns rather than fear them. Teach them the legal and practical uses, and that television violence is fiction meant to entertain. While there are bad people in the world, intelligent people that value life do not commit these acts.

Road rage incident with gun leads to St. Cloud man's arrest

    In Minnesota, this young man allegedly pointed a gun at a man and his children after a near-collision. Road rage is becoming an increasing issue around the country as more and more cars enter the roadway. What the story does not say is whether the firearm was legal. More specifically, did the suspect legally own and have the right to possess that gun? (Did he have proper permits if required in his state?) The optimist in me likes to think that a gun owner knows better than to brandish a firearm in this situation, but that is never a given.

   It is folks like this that fuel the fire for the gun control lobby. As citizens we can only let people see responsible owners carrying responsibly, even if we wish we could do more. We unfortunately have to let law enforcement take the idiots off the street, and hope that eventually that shallow gene pool will dry up. Continue to set the example fellow gun owners, and remember: Always treat it like it's loaded!