Gun Safety? Get real.

8/8/2013: My IndyStar published response to the awful news from Anderson, Indiana:

I can’t write an article every time a child is needlessly killed by a gun. If I did, I would probably have to quit my job due to the time commitment involved. Just in the last six weeks, in central Indiana, three kids have been accidentally killed. The latest fatality, however, emphasizes a point that we just can’t seem to grasp: THERE IS NO 100% SAFE WAY TO STORE A GUN.

The guns were hidden (in a closet).

The guns were locked away.

The bullets were separate from the gun.

The gun was unloaded….almost.

One bullet, unknowingly and accidentally left in the chamber, is what stands between a 13 year old honor student from going back to school today, shot yesterday by his 10 year old brother.

But we still don’t get it.

The Anderson Police department has called the case ‘a perfect storm of unlikely scenarios,’ musing that “had (the bullet) been in another chamber, it would have dry fired. The odds are just really unbelievable.” They are pleading with area residents to please keep your guns safe, even offering free gun locks.

Unbelievable odds? Nope. They are possibilities. Possibilities of your child getting killed. What a stupid game to play.

I am sick for this family. They have been given the delusion by gun advocates, and even the Anderson police department, that there is a safe way to store guns around children. There isn’t. Are there safer ways to store guns? Who cares?

Once again…

1) A gun kept in the home is 43 times more likely to kill someone known to the family than to kill someone in self defense.

2) A gun kept in the home triples the risk of homicide

3) The risk of suicide is 5 times more likely if a gun is kept in the home

Please stop kidding yourself, and each other, that there is a safe way to keep a gun in a home with children.

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