Responsible Firearm Ownership Tip: Control Access To Your Firearm
If you own a firearm, you have a non-negotiable responsibility to keep it away from unauthorized users, especially unsupervised children. Your firearms should always either be under your direct control or securely stored. It is unacceptable for a four year-old child to gain access to an unattended firearm.
It is understandable that many people have a desire to have an easily accessible firearm just in case a predator kicks down his front door or climbs inside via a window. That does not absolve one of his responsibility to control access to his firearm.
A very simple way to balance accessibility and control of a loaded firearm is to buy and use a quick open safe. These devices allow gun owners to have fast access to a loaded gun in the case of an emergency.
The down-side to using a quick open safe is that the owner will need to get to the safe's location if it is needed. This is no different than negligently leaving a loaded firearm on a table when a young child is playing nearby.
Many firearm owners opt to always wear their gun in a holster all day even while home or have it close by within an arm's reach. In fact, in the story referenced below, the gun owner was allegedly quoted as saying that her gun was in her holster when the child gained access to it as she slept.
The child reportedly stated he took the unattended gun off of a table. Personally, I find it hard to believe that a four year-old was able to unholster a gun from his mother's body, even if she was allegedly sleeping.
In any case, gun ownership requires responsibility. A large part of that responsibility is controlling access to one's guns. I believe that the mother did not wish to harm her child. However, if the allegations are true, her negligence caused that to happen. Although she is facing "Neglect" charges, it could have been much worse. She could have spent her day today planning the funeral of her son.
The irony of this story is that the gun owner probably bought a firearm to protect both herself and her child from violent crime. Her alleged negligence allowed harm to actually happen to her child.
Firearm safety is a 24 hour per day responsibility. If you are not capable of being responsible, please do not buy a firearm. Responsible gun owners don't need the grief of you being the latest pawn in the fight for more gun control.
For more info on responsible firearm ownership, visit our blog on the Internet - Legally Armed In Detroit - at URL http://www.legallyarmedindetroit.com
About The Author
Rick Ector is a National Rifle Association credentialed Firearms Trainer, who provides Michigan CCW Class training in Detroit for students at his firearms school - Rick's Firearm Academy of Detroit. Ector is a recognized expert in firearm safety and has been featured extensively in the national and local media: Associated Press, UPI, NRAnews, Guns Digest, Tactical-Life, The Truth About Guns, The Politics Daily, Fox News Detroit, The Detroit News, The Detroit Examiner, WJLB, WGPR, and the UrbanShooterPodcast.
For more info about free shooting lessons for women and Michigan CCW Classes, please contact:
Rick's Firearm Academy of Detroit
Web: http://www.detroitccw.com.
Email: info@detroitccw.com
Phone: 313.733.7404
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