Wash. Post editorial calls for handgun ban

J

johnbt

New member
Saturday, June 24, 2000; Page A22


THE HEART-WRENCHING accidental shooting of a 10-year-old Dale City[Va.] boy by his 13-year-old brother Thursday underscores in sad detail the risks that well-meaning people take when they keep handguns in their homes. The parents had taken precautions: Their guns were kept in a locked box, and the gun that went off had been stored with a trigger lock. But the boys knew how to get past the flimsy lock; they had played cops and robbers with the guns frequently, according to authorities. Though the gun that fired had a trigger lock, police said, the boy playing with it either knew the combination or the series had already been entered. The box with the guns also contained ammunition. The boys loaded the weapons and then, as the 13-year-old was unloading a gun, he noticed one bullet still in the cylinder and tried to get a better look by cocking the gun. When he let go of the hammer, the gun went off, police said.

A tragic but all-too-familiar story. Millions of Americans keep guns in their bedrooms to defend their households against intruders. The idea is to be ready to fire--and this is where the difficulty arises. If a gun-owner takes precautions--locked strongbox kept out of sight and reach of children, with gun locked and unloaded, ammunition separate--how useful is the gun in an emergency anyway? Even if the gun can be readied in time, how sure is the owner of the need to use it?

Which is more likely to happen with guns in homes--successful self-defense against law-breakers, or accidental woundings and killings of children? Politicians now may think they can satisfy anti-gun sentiment by handing out trigger locks or endorsing other half-measures. The real answer lies in banning handguns.


© 2000 The Washington Post Company
 
"Which is more likely to happen with guns in homes--successful self-defense against law-breakers, or accidental woundings and killings of children?"

Well now...possibly we should take an honest, non-emotive inventory of this. Are you up to the task, Washington Post?

Regards
 
The true agenda emerges.

And it could be nothing else for the anti's. Anyone who thinks even a bit about this knows that gun locks, etc., will not prevent accidents 100% of the time, and will certainly not prevent criminals from completing acts of crime. Is it possible the Washington Post will also call for a ban on automobiles? I'm sure that the same day this tragic event happened at least one child died in an automobile accident. We all know the answer.

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"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is power. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearsome master." George Washington
 
Thanks for the post, John.

My heart bleeds (seriously) for the loss of a child - any child. My sincere condolences for the family and relatives of the deceased. I hope this NEVER happens again.

NOW, dear HCI, here is #1 for that day -(I don't mean this to sound callous or heartless, TFLers)- name the other 12 and state their ages and 'occupations', please.
 
I say this frequently.

The MajorMedia nodes are a part of the Oligarchy, a branch of the government.

The media speaks the words of the government.

The media lies.
 
Update from page B2 - I'm a slow reader. JT

No Charges Filed in Shooting of Brother

Prince William County prosecutors have decided not to file charges against a 13-year-old Dale City boy who shot his 10-year-old brother in the face while they played with their father's handguns Thursday morning. Prosecutors said the boy's parents also will not be charged for allowing the boys to have access to the guns.

The 10-year-old, identified in court records as Brian Bell, was shot in the jaw shortly after 9:30 a.m. while he and his brother were playing "cops and robbers" on the second day of their summer vacation. The boy remained in critical condition and on life support last night at Children's Hospital in the District, officials said.

Police said the boys found the guns under their parents' bed, and the older boy loaded a .38-caliber revolver. While he was unloading it, it fired. His brother had been running in front of him. Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert said yesterday that the shooting was accidental. Ebert said the parents were not reckless with the guns, which had been stored and unloaded when the boys found them.
 
I personally would feel much safer if newspapers were banned. Not the net, just newspapers and maybe TV. ;)

RKBA!
 
-Amen !

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by westex:
I personally would feel much safer if newspapers were banned. Not the net, just newspapers and maybe TV. ;)

RKBA![/quote]
 
Dear Editor,

Can you be any more misinformed?

In your editorial, "Guns under the Bed" (24 June 2000) you
insist that the tragic event in Dale is, "[an] all too familiar story."

It is? Where have you gotten this information? Oh, HCI/CPHV
or is it Cease-Fire? You mean the same people that tell us that 11
children (15-21 year olds) a day kill each other in drug wars
and in gang violence?

You also mention, "Which is more likely to happen with guns in
homes -- successful self-defense against law-breakers, or
accidental woundings and killings of children?"

So tell me, which is more likely? Do you have a scientific study
or crime reports or a survey or anything to support your implied
answer? When was the last time your newspaper reported the
successful use of a firearm in the home (or outside the home) in
the defense of a law abiding citizen? Seems to me it's only more
likely that the media will not report the successful, and lawful use
of a firearm for self-defence.

You yourself even say that "millions of Americans keep guns in their
bedrooms to protect their households from intruders." You claim
that accidential shootings is such an epidemic, and then in the next
breath you say that millions of Americans keep guns for defense. So
I must ask you, which is it? Because you can't have both. Clearly
there is not 1000's or even 100's of accidential shootings every
year. If accidential shootings were as common as you complain they
are, then there would be 100,000's every year simply due to the
sheer numbers of gun owners in America. But, apparently, beyond
what you claim to report, gun owners in America are some of the safest,
long lived, law-abiding citizens compared to any group. (Not
to mention that the vast majority of accidental shootings in America
are from rifles and shotguns and not handguns.)

Gun owners in America have been telling us for years that trigger
locks are not fool proof. Gun owners have been telling us since they
were invented that trigger locks do not prevent the loading and firing
of any firarm; that trigger locks are more dangerous because they
imply a false sence of security. Yet all we ever read about is how
we must have trigger locks mandatory for all guns; we never read
an article that clearly outlines the benefits (which are few) and the
drawbacks (which are many) of trigger locks.

So the solution is to ban handguns? Solution to what? There
is credible evidence taken from FBI and DoJ records that proves
civilian firearms ownership is a serious crime deterrent. Untill
you find a way to prevent criminals from obtaining handguns
(and any number of socalled banned items) you are dreaming
that banning the law-abiding ownership of handguns will solve
societies problems.


Sincerely,
USP45



------------------

~USP

"[Even if there would be] few tears shed if and when the Second Amendment is held to guarantee nothing more than the state National Guard, this would simply show that the Founders were right when they feared that some future generation might wish to abandon liberties that they considered essential, and so sought to protect those liberties in a Bill of Rights. We may tolerate the abridgement of property rights and the elimination of a right to bear arms; but we should not pretend that these are not reductions of rights." -- Justice Scalia 1998
 
The Washington Post is owned, and has been owned for many years, by the Mega Millionaire Marxists. This particular editorial is only one of dozens and dozens, over the years,(along with thousands of biased half-lie and full lie "news" stories) calling for the destruction of the Constitution and the imposititon of The Brave New Marxist Socialist Police State Utopia. (No different from most all the rest of the media.)

Nothing new here. Just remember that to the owners, publishers, editors, reporters, columnists and cartoonists, you/we are nothing more than serfs; dirty, filthy vermin to be exterminated.

The Locomotives Continue Racing Toward Each Other. J.B.
 
If there are 13 "children" dying everyday from all those evil guns, why can's some one make a list of names for one week with descriptions of the situations? The media really loves to report incidents where "children are killed by guns", but I don't hear 13 stories a day when I turn on the news or open the paper. Can someone explain this to me?

It sure is strange; some think we need licensing and registrations to be "safe". Perhaps the press should be licensend and their printing equipment be registered. What would they say about that? Seems to me, that might make society "safer". I don't really believe such restrictions should be placed on the first ammendment, I'm just making a point. Besides, like the Second, the First Ammendment is also being slowly chiseled away.
 
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