Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Safe storage law through Denver senate.

The Denver senate backed a law that would require gun retailers to hand out warnings about properly storing firearms (already mandatory under federal law), the same warning must be posted at the entrance to gun shows.
The bill would also hold parents accountable if children got hold of their guns and used them to kill themselves or someone else. It's primarely aimed at suicide prevention. There are however a lot of exemptions such as chilren using firearms in self defence or for hunting.

I believe that responsible storage of firearms is an important issue, and I would support this legislation if I wasn't convinced that the "slippery slope" story were true. I also wonder how this law would apply if a minor burglarize your home and stole one of your firearms.
I think it's also a bit lowly to punish a parent a secod time after losing a child to suicide.

A nice video can be found here, along with a brief article.

1 comment:

Ryan said...

I agree that this idea is fundamentally sound but for the slippery slope theory. I also think that excluding gross negligence (loaded handgun on the table in a room full of kids) parents who try to do the right thing should not be prossecuted. Kids will find the gun and ammo or even the safe key if they are adamant to. Prevention is the key via training and education.