A horrible headline: “Toddler shoots parents with gun left on night table. Three-week-old unhurt.” The injured Bath parents and their baby are lucky to be alive this week. Do those who won’t lock up their deadly weapons not value their family’s lives as much as they value their guns?
You have a right to own a gun. We have a right to expect your safe care of it, especially if our kids or grandkids are visiting your home.
Guns are the leading means of death by suicide, which is three times more likely in homes with unprotected guns. Maine has the nation’s ninth highest rate of suicides, which represent 89 percent of Maine gun deaths. We can’t save all troubled people, or know what bully drove our kid to end tomorrow’s bullying with our gun. And does everyone train their families in safe gun use?
“If I have to lock up my guns, I can’t get to them fast enough to defend against a home invader.” Nope! Several gun safes out there open in less than three seconds and cost as little as $75. Do you lock one of your guns in your glove compartment because you wouldn’t want that bored, curious kid you left in the car for a minute to open it and kill the other kid in the car?
There’s no excuse for not keeping killer weapons in a safe place.
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