Oops.
Anyone who ever accidentally fires their loaded gun should lose their firearm privileges. And that includes cops, such as the one who recently accidentally fired his gun while using it as a fucking flashlight at the Columbia protest.
I think that’s a pretty “common sense” measure that both sides of the second amendment debate should be able to mostly agree on. There may need to be more nuance for it to be in line with the second amendment constitutionally, such as it being a privilege lost only for a number of years and which can be restored after taking a gun safety class, or some such. But it sure would be a start.
Unintentional discharges happen. If you work with firearms enough, it’s going to happen one day. Some are lucky and it never happens, but the odds are against you. It’s happened to me a couple of times, actually.
Here is a video of an F-Class shooter, who shoots thousands of rounds per year and is extremely good at what he does, explaining how it happened to him: https://youtu.be/ZIItyX1B1vI?si=_y4WAKLY88wJ3LiT
People who respect firearms should have layers of process to prevent an unintentional discharge from hurting anyone. The dude in his kitchen did not.
So no. I simply cannot agree with your point as it doesn’t make any sense when you look at the whole picture. If you were to say people who never respect gun safety and are blatantly careless should have their firearms taken away, I could agree with you.
That’s fair. I did say there probably needs to be more nuance and I could certainly learn more on the topic. However, the argument doesn’t apply in this case. The cop should not have been using his weapon as a flashlight. You know that rule about not aiming your weapon at something you don’t want to shoot? One of the four most basic rules of firearm safety? Big failure on this guy’s part.
There are many rules, but always treating a firearm as it’s loaded is tied for first place. Situational awareness is up there as well.
I’m not even anti-gun, but it sure would be nice to see some other pro 2A people acknowledge when someone else has done something poorly, such as used their gun as a flashlight.
That seems stupid, using a gun as a flashlight I mean. I don’t know anything about that situation, but I suppose I would come to that same conclusion if I found any articles about it, or had even heard about it.
Call a spade a spade. If the cop was being an idiot, he was an idiot. I simply cannot speak to every story I hear about though.
When it comes to my own stuff, I go to a private range and the people there are serious about safety. Anyone I associate with would likely also take a gun away from an idiot as quick as I would and nobody would give two-fucks if they were a cop or not.
Unintentional discharges happen. If you work with firearms enough, it’s going to happen one day.
Initially I brushed this off, but the more I thought about it then more it’s possible. The thing I was missing is that an accidental discharge could happen at the range with the gun pointed in a safe direction aimed at something you intend to destroy. It’s not just about accidental discharges when people are being stupid (using a gun as a flashlight because that’s where you have a flashlight mounted).
“Imma clean my death machine without checking that it’s turned off first.”
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It’s interesting. Imagine the news articles if guns were banned - “Man cleaning knife accidentally cuts all of neighbors cords”. Point being this accident could’ve killed someone, the knife having an accident killing some rando is very unlikely
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Dummy forgot to safety check his gun that it was not loaded before pulling the trigger to break down his gun. Easy mistake to make but that’s why you always double check your chamber.
And point the gun in a safe direction (usually down) when pulling the trigger to break it down for cleaning even when you’ve checked the chamber.
If people would understand that the government isn’t going to come take your gun, maybe there should be a public registry of guns owned.
The point of the gun is to protect your family. So let the world know your home is “protected” by guns before criminals even break in the door. Just like home alarm systems have signs. Wouldn’t you rather a criminal completely leaves you alone instead of having to fire your gun and having to fill out the police report paperwork?
And your guns should be in a locked safe, so not like criminals will start to target you to easily steal your guns.
And now neighbors know which neighbor might accidentally kill them.
And food delivery knows which homes to not approach for fear of being mistaken for a criminal and shot.
And the NRA keeps saying that gun sales are being done legally, so why not have a listing of guns owned? Would make it a whole lot easier for insurance to reimburse you if the gun is damaged in a home fire. Or return it to you if it is stolen. Same way bicycles can be registered with a serial number, or cars can get their vin etched into the windows.
You do realize one of the big issue in this scenario you’re describing where even criminals can know if the residents of a house have a gun, right? Criminals would infer those off the list are less likely to have one and target those people without a gun with greater surety.
Yes, that would happen.
I’m not sure if that really will play out where everyone gets a gun.
Right now not everyone has a security system (or at least just the sign). And not everyone has a dog inside. And not everyone has a car alarm.
…let the world know your home is “protected” by guns before criminals even break in the door.
This is a great way to have someone break into your house and steal your guns while you’re not home. People secure their guns differently based on numerous different situations/reasons making some easier to steal than others.
Plus, no one need to know that. I don’t want to be targeted by anyone (political / socially / physically / etc) simply for owning a firearm (if I do). No one need to know if I own a gun just like no one needs ro know if you’ve ever beat off in the shower.
Just like home alarm systems have signs.
Why Home Security Signs Could Actually Get You Robbed
I don’t want ANYONE to know what system(s) I may or may not have in place; that’s just opening telling theives what exploits to look for in my system. The more generic looking the equipment is, the better.
And the NRA keeps saying that gun sales are being done legally, so why not have a listing of guns owned?
Because then there’s a list of people to go after first if poop happens. Again, no one needs to know what weapons I may or may not have.
Would make it a whole lot easier for insurance to reimburse you if the gun is damaged in a home fire.
With that attitude, let’s just register EVERYTHING with the insurance company. I’m sure they won’t use analytics against you when they determine that people who own a 65+ in TV that isn’t wall mounted have 66% more injuries and jack up your insurance rate.
I could keep going, but I’ve run out of caring. Thanks for anyone reading this.