Iowa husband shoots, kills escaped inmate who held him, wife hostage

[spookyturtle 9,465]

No, it was not in the home. It was removed from the home and taken to the school where it was used to murder 20 children and 6 school staffers.

Yes. And you'd want to remove the cover from the sockets and certainly ban child safe medication containers.

Agreed. Those things are too damn hard to open.

[Darnell 8,478]

Spooky - huh ? Every CABA-chick I ever ran across could open em within 10 seconds. Course, my statistical sample isna that large, but still..

[slim 1,514]

A full 30 percent of gun owners keep their weapons at the ready in an unlocked, loaded state.

Goes to show that just because some people CAN have guns, doesn't mean they should.

I read a study (and I use that term loosely) today about shootings and how many gun owners keep their guns "at the ready." What I was really surprised about was this study admitted that guns needed to be at the ready in order to protect against things like home invasions where the occupants wouldn't have time to remove a gun from a safe, load it, and then react to the threat. Typically studies don't admit that sort of thing.

I am part of that 30%. At any given time I have several guns at the ready in an unlocked, loaded state.

I'm almost always carrying a gun on my person when I'm out traveling. Last weekend I stayed at a friend's house where small children were present. I was careful to unload and clear my gun before securing it in my personal belongings. I also had a conversation with the children's father about how to store my gun safely around his kids. "Don't even worry about it. My kids know better than to touch a gun."

There are numerous ways to keep a gun at the ready and still be safe around kids and house guests. A biometric safe is a good way but educating everyone on firearms safety is by far the best.

I've been on one topic. Guns in the home being used for the wrong reasons rather than the right ones.

Penny, can you find a comprehensive study on guns being used for the right reasons? I challenge you to find one.

There are many (tax payer funded, even) studies on how dangerous guns are but you'll be hard-pressed to find one on the number of times guns are used to stop crimes. There are estimates. There are guesses. But there really aren't comprehensive statistics kept like there are when there are crimes with victims and/or hospital visits (and/or tax money!). Most of these so-called studies are simply reporters who've compiled as many newspaper articles as they can find and extrapolated the data. Is that scientific enough for you to make a judgement?

If there is a real study, it's always done by some conservative, radical right wingers like the NRA and who can trust them?

Please bust out that search-fu and see what you come up with. I'm willing to bet my VJ credits that it's difficult to honestly compare apples to apples in this scenario. I'm also willing to bet guns are used to stop crimes and in home defense a lot more than is reported.

I'd be open to thoughts of locking gun operation down to the purchaser. But I don't consider guns a necessity of modern life so I'd rather just get rid of them. But you know, compromise and all.

Let me throw this out here for your consideration....

If getting an ID is too expensive for some people and limits their right to vote - akin to a poll tax - then how on earth is mandating a system that makes guns prohibitively expensive not a tax on folks who have a right to exercise their 2nd Amendment?

I'm not shooting down the idea of a using a key, a bracelet, microstamping, or any of the other radical ideas of how to make a simple mechanical operation extremely complex. What I'm asking is how can we, as Americans, prohibit a tax on one right but encourage a tax on another?

[GandD 5,966]

Let me throw this out here for your consideration....

If getting an ID is too expensive for some people and limits their right to vote - akin to a poll tax - then how on earth is mandating a system that makes guns prohibitively expensive not a tax on folks who have a right to exercise their 2nd Amendment?

I'm not shooting down the idea of a using a key, a bracelet, microstamping, or any of the other radical ideas of how to make a simple mechanical operation extremely complex. What I'm asking is how can we, as Americans, prohibit a tax on one right but encourage a tax on another?

You have to buy guns now. Its not like your 2nd amendment right ever stipulated what a gun might cost you. Besides, sounds like you have lots of guns, obviously cost has not been an issue to this point. I don't really care about the voter ID stuff. I feel like its a ploy for the republicans to eliminate some democrat voters. I don't think either side (fraud rates or voting rights) give a ####### about anything other than numbers.

[Darnell 8,478]

i think that gun-ownership is a self-correcting mechanism. If'n yer too stupid and own a gun, well, yer in for some pain.

But that's just my opinion, indefensible to those who hate guns.

[GandD 5,966]

Well unless your level of being stupid is entirely attributed to being under 5 years old.

[Darnell 8,478]

G - parents are responsible for their kids: mileau, training, shelter, food, etc. If a five year old picks up a gun, that parent had it coming. <EOM>

[GandD 5,966]

I'm not ok with that......... D

[Peikko 1,575]

G - parents are responsible for their kids: mileau, training, shelter, food, etc. If a five year old picks up a gun, that parent had it coming. <EOM>

Have you spent much time around the under five age group? Clearly, it's responsible to keep an eye on them, but if you think you can keep your eyes on them 24/7 and keep them from harm you really haven't got much experience with them. They are endlessly interested, endlessly on the move and while it might be comforting to think that you would be able to go through a normal day and keep tabs on an under 5 during all it's waking hours, I have to tell you it's not possible. Keeping guns in the house with young children is not a very responsible thing to do in my opinion, and to think that you know your kids so well you are certain that they wouldn't ever touch something they are not supposed to is wreckless.

[Darnell 8,478]

G - and that's ok. I'm ok with it - as the responsibility of 'that act' lies solely with that parent. It's on the parents to keep a gun out of the hands of a 5 year old. Fail that? Sorry - ya get what's coming...

I'll never understand parents that 'suffer' from having a child get access to their pistols and then doing something (like shooting a sister or cousin or neighbor) .. But just because I don't understand it, doesn't mean I can't drill down and find the root cause , the failing point.

[Darnell 8,478]

Have you spent much time around the under five age group? Clearly, it's responsible to keep an eye on them, but if you think you can keep your eyes on them 24/7 and keep them from harm you really haven't got much experience with them. They are endlessly interested, endlessly on the move and while it might be comforting to think that you would be able to go through a normal day and keep tabs on an under 5 during all it's waking hours, I have to tell you it's not possible. Keeping guns in the house with young children is not a very responsible thing to do in my opinion, and to think that you know your kids so well you are certain that they wouldn't ever touch something they are not supposed to is wreckless.

Much Time? absolutely !! Tell ya what worked for me - our pistols were duct-taped above the door then that spot was covered up with a velcro attachment - made the 'above the door' area look like a reverse transom. My son never, ever got to that point until he was about 10 years old. The first time he could touch that area - we moved the pistols elsewhere. Pistols checked twice a month, duct tape replaced, religiously.

We spent time together, instead of just being in the same household. My son was always engaged at the house, whether it was me, his mom, or our live-in nanny, at least up till the age of 12. After that, I dunno - we were divorced by then and my pistols traveled with me.

We were never a family that just 'parked the child' somewhere in the house...

[Peikko 1,575]

Much Time? absolutely !! Tell ya what worked for me - our pistols were duct-taped above the door then that spot was covered up with a velcro attachment - made the 'above the door' area look like a reverse transom. My son never, ever got to that point until he was about 10 years old. The first time he could touch that area - we moved the pistols elsewhere. Pistols checked twice a month, duct tape replaced, religiously.

We spent time together, instead of just being in the same household. My son was always engaged at the house, whether it was me, his mom, or our live-in nanny, at least up till the age of 12. After that, I dunno - we were divorced by then and my pistols traveled with me.

We were never a family that just 'parked the child' somewhere in the house...

Don't you even think that's slightly preposterous? Duct taping guns to doors? Sorry, I think they are better stored outside the home, perhaps at a gun range? Are you suggesting that every parent who's child under 5 has any form of accident is 'parking' their children an being borderline neglectful? Sorry dude, you're on your own with that theory.

[Darnell 8,478]

Please don't stretch what I did, to think that what I did 'is what I am promulgating to all'.

It simply isn't.

[slim 1,514]

I think they are better stored outside the home, perhaps at a gun range?

How are you going to get a home invader to wait patiently for you while you go to the range to retrieve your gun?

[Peikko 1,575]

How are you going to get a home invader to wait patiently for you while you go to the range to retrieve your gun?

My home is not going to be invaded, and if it were it's unlikely that the invader would want to kill me and if he did, well it's curtains for me. I don't expect it to happen, I don't have a gun for protection. I have lived in riskier situations than I do now and I was safe then. Guns and homes are not a good combination in my opinion.