https://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-father-1st-charged-new-safe-gun-storage/story?id=109585645
A Michigan dad was charged with violating the state's safe gun storage law after his son allegedly got a hold of his firearm and shot himself, investigators said.
Jesus fucking Christ...
Investigators said the boy used a chair to access the handgun which was "unsafely" and insecurely stored on top of a kitchen cabinet.
The kid was eight years old and he put the gun where parents unsuccessfully put the fucking cookie jar.
I try not to read articles like this because they just make me sick and I regret reading this one.
I generally try not to read them either. I have elementary age kids. Before I had kids I owned a handgun and would go to the range but when the kids came along the gun had to go. There’s no level of risk other than zero that’s acceptable to me in this regard.
Nichols was not permitted to own a firearm due to a previous drug-related conviction, according to police.
Sometimes I'm disappointed that being this much of a fucking idiot isn't a crime.
That was already illegal. Now it's also a crime to keep your gun somewhere a child can get to it.
So what everyone was keeping their guns on the shelf by the front door prior to this were they?
I mean on its own. Like, this guy has already shown he's a fucking idiot, what can we do to keep society safe from him before he does something irresponsible and gets a child killed?
Knowing you are the reason someone is dead, fuck. Be adult and store your weapons properly.
But if it's locked up, it takes too much work when you want to wave it around feeling badass.
Exactly. Those "get out of murder free" moments can come and go in an instant. You don't have time to be fucking around with a gun safe when your doorbell rings or a car pulls into your driveway.
Knowing you are the reason your kid is dead. Or maimed. Christ how do you live with that?
I like guns, I don't currently own any, that will probably change at some point in my life, but one of the several reasons I don't have one is because I don't have any space in my house that I'd want taken up by a gun safe.
I don't even have kids and I don't plan on having any, I can count the amount of times there has been a child in my house on one hand with fingers to spare, and if I have it my way my count will never reach my other hand, and the only time those children were out of an adult's immediate supervision while they were here was when they were in the bathroom, but I can't guarantee that will always be the case, I don't know what friends or relatives may bring kids over and what may happen that will distract us from what they're doing.
I live in a pretty safe neighborhood, but break-ins happen, and I don't want my guns out on the streets, so not only will my safe be merely child-proof, it's also going to be securely bolted to the wall and/or floor, and it's going to be hard to break into, and ideally hidden from sight. No one's getting guns out of my house against my will without at least some time and power tools.
Should my wife or I ever have a mental health crisis, I want to make sure that we have the means to secure those guns until we can get them out of the house by changing the combo or hiding the keys or whatever (and that would also be the end of guns in our house for good)
Anyone who doesn't think of these kinds of circumstances has no business owning a gun.
I'm all about storage laws. Damn near every gun law Democrats come up with is ineffective at best, backfires at worst. I could go on and on.
But I see no 2A violation, no chance of a court kicking it back, no arguments of any sort regarding storage laws when a minor is in the home.
It's pretty difficult to write effective laws when conservatives fight tooth and nail against any legislation that tries to actually help people
The ONLY reason this is a law is because Michigan Democrats have the trifecta of House, Senate, and Governorship. Republicans are very salty about having to store their guns safely.
The article links to the recently passed laws which address gun storage while minors are present:
Gun owners who live with minors who could access their firearms will now be required to store the firearm in a locked box or container or lock the firearm with a locking device that renders it inoperable by any individual other than the owner or an authorized user, according to the legislation
You could probably argue that keeping it under your pillow or on your nightstand while you're sleeping or carrying it with you around the house is still acceptable since it's "in use". In the latter example, you're literally carrying it with you, and in the former example it's within arms reach at all times.
That said, should you have an unsecured gun in a house with a child? Absolutely not. They could sneak into your room while you're sleeping and easily get the gun if it's on the nightstand.
Besides, I'd expect most gun safes worth buying would be able to be quickly opened in case of an emergency. You have a decent amount of time between someone throwing a brick through a window and them being in your room. This isn't Hotline Miami. They can't see through your walls and aren't going to intentionally make a beeline for you with a golf club.
Edit: at least I hope they're not making a beeline for you. If they are then you're possibly fucked no matter what. If they're making a beeline for you that means you're the goal and that they're A) a crazy ex or disgruntled coworker/business partner, B) a kidnapper and/or extortionist, C) a hitman, or D) members of a gang or cartel that you pissed off. You might be able to defend yourself in situation A (probably the most likely situation for the average person), however they might have a gun too. In situations B, C and D, you're fucked. Firstly, a professional hitman will probably enter your house without you knowing, so it doesn't matter how much time you have to prepare yourself because you probably won't see them coming. Secondly, kidnappers, extortionists and cartel/gang members probably won't be alone and will probably be heavily armed. Even if you successfully fend them off, you'll probably get shot at least once in the process.
Any gun safe capable of being opened quickly by an authorized user would be able to be opened just as quickly by an unauthorized user, aka a child.
I agree with your assertion though, that keeping a gun handy in the presence of an adult is distinctly different from keeping a gun unsecured and not in the possession of an adult. Good point.
My phone has a 4-digit pin code. While not super secure, I'm able to unlock it in anywhere from <1s to 2-3s, depending on if my fingers are cold and if I'm distracted. At worst, it might take me 7-8sec if I'm high stress (I think that's about how long it took me to unlock my phone after I had a wreck, and that was with my arms shaking so badly from adrenaline that I couldn't hold the phone to my ear). On a gun safe, that'd still give me a lot of time to open the door, grab my gun, load it, and find a safe place to hide.
Now, 4 digit pins aren't super secure, especially if there's no limit to failed inputs; a kid could probably go through all 9,999 10,000 potential combinations in an afternoon. However, if you increase that to 6 digits, you now have up to 999,999 1,000,000 combinations a child has to go through; yet the combination is still easily rememberable and the time to open the safe has probably barely increased.
Edit: forgot about 0000 and 000000 as possible combinations for 4 digit and 6 digit pins.
4 digit pins are secure enough that kids aren't likely going to guess one unless it's obvious.
And yet the rest of the world -- that doesn't allow that kind of fucking idiocy -- somehow hasn't collapsed.
Good? You're more likely to win the lottery then to actually need a gun for self/home defense...
And it's even MORE likely that the gun will be used to kill someone, either accidentally or murder.
It's called a baseball bat. It's part of the great American pastime- beating the shit out of someone with a baseball bat.