Submitted by rabblebowser t3_yfj5sl in boston
psychicsword t1_iu4a5no wrote
Reply to comment by Chippopotanuse in Police confiscate loaded gun from 7-year-old at Dorchester school by rabblebowser
> There is only ONE way a 7-year old takes a gun to school. And that’s if the parents are way beyond grossly negligent in the storing of their firearms.
The kid could have broken into the gun safe. Some of them are very poor security devices despite being marketed to stop exactly this kind of thing from happening.
When I was that age I routinely broke into my dad's workshop that he had locked up to keep me away from his power tools. I had enough time that I would try every combination over a few weeks until I got the code to work.
AboyNamedBort t1_iu4gt94 wrote
If a little kid can access your gun you were not responsible enough and should be banned from owning a firearm.
ADarwinAward t1_iu54ctg wrote
> should be banned from owning a firearm
Of course. But that’s also assuming whoever owned the gun did so legally and wasn’t already banned from owning a gun. The original article linked by this article doesn’t give any info on who the owner was or whether it was legally owned. The cops are still investigating who and where the gun came from.
[deleted] t1_iu4im9z wrote
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psharpep t1_iu4jsna wrote
> It is absolutely possible that the parents took reasonable steps to safeguard their gun from their kid and that the kid defeated all of those efforts to gain access secretly anyway.
Disagree. The fact that a 7 year old was able to break in is an existence proof that whatever gun safe they had was criminally indadequate. A 7 year old isn't using an angle grinder or thermite - this is basic, basic safety.
If the parents want to own a gun, fine - but when they chose to do so, they implicitly accepted criminal responsibility for securing that gun and any consequences for failing to do so. If they don't want that liability, or they're unable to manage that liability (as is clearly the case), they shouldn't own a gun - period.
[deleted] t1_iu4l9f9 wrote
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devAcc123 t1_iu4n4iq wrote
Lmao it’s a 7 year old child
If you can’t figure out how to prevent a literal 7 year old from accessing a gun you are in no way shape or form responsible enough to own a firearm with a child in the house
psharpep t1_iu4nbd5 wrote
That's exactly my point. Most gun locks by themselves are woefully unsafe and inadequate, and, if you're a gun owner, the buck stops with you to keep it safe.
I grew up around guns, with my family owning over a dozen. Not once was a loaded gun ever kept in the house. Not once was ammunition stored together with the gun. Both were kept in steel safes with both a pick-resistant key AND a six-digit combo when at home, and often they were kept offsite (i.e., away from kids - me) in a small 24/7 storage locker.
It's really not that hard or expensive to do gun ownership right - these parents have no excuse.
walthamresident927 t1_iu4n6q0 wrote
You realize how stupid saying “maybe the child broke into the thing made by adults to keep other adults out” is, right? He didn’t break into a gun safe. He picked up a gun lying around
jojenns t1_iu4l3fo wrote
The kid is 7. If you cant outsmart your 7 year old to keep a gun secure then you just shouldn’t have a gun.
CommodoreQuinli t1_iu53xuq wrote
I can’t outsmart the squirrels trying to get to the bird feeder but they probaly conjure up ways to get in 24/7 while I only try to stop them once I’m a blue moon.
DooDooBrownz t1_iu4j5ck wrote
ok let's say he did. if you got a kid you better be storing your shit unloaded with a trigger lock so an easy to guess code is not a fucking excuse
frankcauldhame1 t1_iu69js1 wrote
THIS
Smith-WessonPat t1_iu4vu33 wrote
What is the point of an unloaded, trigger-locked home-defense firearm? I have a small pistol safe in my bedroom so that I can keep it loaded and ready to rock.
JoshSidekick t1_iu55cws wrote
I hope we don’t read about it later, then.
Smith-WessonPat t1_iu55qoz wrote
What is the point of a safe if you are going to leave it unloaded and and put a trigger lock on it. What good will that be if you ever actually need it in an emergency?
DooDooBrownz t1_iuhxlsg wrote
same as a loaded one under your pillow. what are you fucking rambo to whip out a pistol and start blasting any time you hear a noise?
Smith-WessonPat t1_iuhzzyc wrote
What the hell do you think people get gun safes for? To keep them secure but accessible. A trigger lock on a gun that is in a safe is just stupid.
HeartFullONeutrality t1_iu5d0n8 wrote
The point is that no one gets killed accidentally.
Smith-WessonPat t1_iu5dh3u wrote
That is just silly. That is what the safe is for. An unloaded gun, in a safe, with a trigger lock on it is not going to be available for you to use in an emergency.
HeartFullONeutrality t1_iu5ec8i wrote
Is the USA such a shithole country that people routinely engage in shootouts with armed intruders in their own homes? Must be terrifying to live there.
Smith-WessonPat t1_iu5f24p wrote
Absolutely not, but it does happen from time to time even in the safest areas. People who are unfortunate enough to live in really unsafe areas have a much higher likelihood of needing a firearm to protect themselves at some point. Keeping a firearm in a safe, with a trigger lock, and unloaded makes it completely useless. Why would you even bother having a firearm that can't save your life if you needed it to? So dumb...
HeartFullONeutrality t1_iu5itv5 wrote
Well the question is... Can they truly save your life, or is it just placebo? Multiple countries (richer, poorer, safer, more violent) seem to do just fine without them...
Smith-WessonPat t1_iu5mlve wrote
Guns aren't going anywhere in the US so it is prudent to know how to actually use them. That train has already left the station; bad people will always be able to get guns so I want to have mine as well. I am very proficient with firearms as it is a hobby of mine and I spend a lot of time shooting. A hobby that has a side benefit of being able to protect my family if that unlikely event ever occurs.
frenetix t1_iu5kscf wrote
I'm generally pro-2A, and I don't care if you want to sleep with a loaded gun under your pillow with your arms around a warm AR-15 if that's what you're into, that's your right. But the right to be in control of a device that is intended to kill others ("save your life", as you say, since when you shoot someone you don't have any control if they live or die), implies that you should also have the responsibility to not let that firearm into the hands of someone who could use it to harm themselves or others. Like a 7 year old. Or a thief. And that having that responsibility means you should face consequences for letting that happen. So if you don't want to lock your shit up, it's on you if it goes missing and causes harm.
I enjoy shooting, but I don't own my own guns because I don't want to bear that responsibility. If you do, that's great, but you should pay the consequences if you fuck up.
Smith-WessonPat t1_iu5n49t wrote
Did you read a single thing I said? My two bedroom pistols are in a safe that my 7 and 9 year old kids can't get into. Since they are in the safe, why would I put a trigger lock on them? The safe is going to slow me down enough as it is in an emergency but it is a necessary thing. Having to then remove a trigger lock and load the gun after opening the safe makes absolutely zero sense.
frenetix t1_iu5p9ei wrote
You do you, my man. All I'm saying is that in exchange for being prepared for an emergency in this way, you should bear the responsibility if things get out of your control.
Smith-WessonPat t1_iu5ptpr wrote
What is getting out of my control with having my guns in a safe in my bedroom? This is insanity.
psharpep t1_iu4knuo wrote
> When I was that age I routinely broke into my dad's workshop that he had locked up to keep me away from his power tools. I had enough time that I would try every combination over a few weeks until I got the code to work.
Which is one reason why a combination lock (especially the three-number ones that are common on gun safes) are woefully inadequate for gun safety. Part of the responsibility is on marketing and inadequate regulation around gun locks, but most of the blame is on the consumers of said locks (the parents), who should either a) know better or b) not own a gun.
Smith-WessonPat t1_iu4vmbm wrote
Three-digit combinations are common on gun safes? Both of mine are 6 digit codes.
septagon t1_iu4ngom wrote
This is ridiculous to the extreme. A proper gun safe is almost adult proof. What's being described here is precisely "beyond grossly negligent in the storing of their firearms".
psychicsword t1_iu4s6ze wrote
Lockpickinglawyer opened one of them up with a twig.
You can argue that this isn't a "proper gun safe" but the law doesn't require that people spend $1000 on a secured to the building vault with 3" steel walls and an attack vetted locking mechanism.
Many of the marketed as "secure" gun safes on amazon and in sporting goods stores are not going to keep an adult out and some are barely able to keep anyone out but are often viewed and marketed capable of doing that.
septagon t1_iu4u6te wrote
Proper being defined as something that would keep your 7 year old out, not what the Chinese listing on Amazon says. Any responsible parent and gun owner would agree. The problem is they're not either of those and in the end if that child gets hurt because of it it's fully their fault.
scolfin t1_iu56x61 wrote
It's adult-proof if you're opening it properly, but not as secure as promised if you're getting creative in how to get it open. There's a Burn Notice quip about how a lot of very secure doors are in walls that you can punch through, but my reference is that I find it difficult to open a pill bottle my dog bit the cap off of this morning (why she likes chewing those caps I have no idea).
[deleted] t1_iu4p4rc wrote
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psychicsword t1_iu4rprx wrote
What you believe should happen doesn't change what is currently allowed to happen under the law.
Unfortunately it is very much possible that the parents took steps that were circumvented which would be a valid defense against the type of crime you are referring to. As such it would be a waste of everyone's time to drag that out into court if that is what the evidence showed happened.
If they did in fact have no gun safe or locking mechanism then yes they should be charged but under the laws right now someone using a lock they though was adequate is not likely to be charged and if they were they wouldn't be convicted.
[deleted] t1_iu4rytz wrote
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jojenns t1_iu4gunw wrote
Yes that could be it. Kid broke into the family gun safe
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