Gun Storage

[u/RationalTidbits]

Obviously a current topic…

Obviously, storage requirements are an infringement on self-protection, not just for adults in the house, but also, say, for a teenage girl who finds herself facing a 200-pound, armed intruder when her parents happen to be away from home.

But what about the case of a child who is a known threat, like that Virginia six-year-old who shot his teacher? (Or whatever other scenario you imagine.) The parents have criminal and civil liability for failure to store guns under whatever imagined requirements?

To be clear, I am on the no-storage-requirements side of this. (It’s just another avenue in the pursuit of nullification.) But talk me through the gray areas and outlier cases.

** Re-stating the question more clearly: Give me gun storage scenarios (if any), where you would say, hands down and without hesitation, THAT parent 100% needs criminal charges. **

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Thank you! You all helped me put a sharper edge on my thinking.

Here is where I have landed so far:

— If a child or teenager becomes committed to murder or self-deletion, LOTS of things have gone wrong that have nothing to do with the presence or storage of a gun.

— Parenting and home are the keys to understanding the problem, and they are a more effective solution, rather than storage laws, which only serve to criminalize gun ownership.

— That said, if anyone actively “aids” a known criminal or obviously dangerous person… or actively contributes to a situation that no reasonable person would (such as leaving a loaded gun on a daycare table)… then there are already laws to hold people accountable.

[u/emurange205]

But what about the case of a child who is a known threat, like that Virginia six-year-old who shot his teacher? (Or whatever other scenario you imagine.) The parents have criminal and civil liability for failure to store guns under whatever imagined requirements?

If the parents had kept the guns stored in some legally prescribed manner and the kid got the gun, would the parents still be liable?

[u/RationalTidbits → u/emurange205]

If the child in question found a way to circumvent precautions, as many children do, then I would say “no.” But we also know that gun control advocates would push for prosecution, no matter the circumstances, to penalize the “crime” of having a gun at all.

[u/emurange205 → u/RationalTidbits]

But we also know that gun control advocates would push for prosecution, to penalize the “crime” of having a gun at all.

Of course. What are the gray areas you want to talk about?

[u/RationalTidbits → u/emurange205]

Is there a scenario… any scenario… where you would say, yeah, THAT parent should get criminal charges?

[u/emurange205 → u/RationalTidbits]

Not based solely on the method of storage, I don't think.

[u/RationalTidbits → u/emurange205]

Yeah, that’s where I think I am too.