A false safety (Laws that require handguns sold in the United States have gun locks.)

The Washington Times ^ | July 6, 2006 | John R. Lott, Jr.

[neverdem]

    It seems simple enough to require that handguns sold in the United States have gun locks. Yet, last week the House of Representatives voted 230-191 to bar using federal funds to enforce the law that was passed only last year as part of a law to shield gun makers from reckless lawsuits. It is now up to the Senate.

    Touting locks as a way to reduce accidental gun deaths among children, Sarah Brady of the Brady Campaign, a gun-control organization, immediately responded to the House vote by saying, "as a mother, this makes me ill." But despite the obvious feel-good appeal of these rules, gun locks and safe-storage laws are more likely to cost lives than to save them. Possibly the worst thing about mandating that handguns be sold with locks is that it exaggerates the risks of guns in the home and scares some people into not owning them.

    Accidental gun deaths among children are, fortunately, much rarer than most people believe. With 40 million children in the United States under the age of 10, there were just 20 accidental gun deaths in 2003, the latest year with data from the Centers for Disease Control. While guns get most of the attention, children are 41 times more likely to die from accidental suffocations, 32 times more likely to accidentally drown and 20 times more likely to die as a result of accidental fires. Looking at all children under 15, there were 56 accidental gun deaths in 2003-- still a fraction of the deaths resulting from these other accidents for only the younger children.

    Given that there are over 90 million adults in America who own at least one gun, the overwhelming majority of gun owners must have been extremely careful, even before the 2005 law, or...

[rellimpank]

-bflr-

[MD_Willington_1976]

Sell every new car/truck/motorcycle with a wheel "boot"... for the children...

[Dutch Boy]

I have a gun lock for each of my guns. They are currently in a box. I only use them when I take one of my guns to the shop. That way I don't have to buy a news one to remove it from the store.

[paul51]

Touting locks as a way to reduce accidental gun deaths among children, Sarah Brady of the Brady Campaign, a gun-control organization, immediately responded to the House vote by saying, "as a mother, this makes me ill."

As a father, gun grabbers make me ill.

[somniferum]

One interesting tidbit in the book Freakonomics was that a swimming pool in the backyard was statistically far more dangerous to children than a gun.

[theBuckwheat]

And to add economic insult to this insanity, the locks that were with the last handgun I purchased, as were all the locks that my LEO are giving away *are made in China*!

[goldstategop]

The only reason to require a gun lock is to prevent a gun from being used when one needs it. That's like having a car sold with a wheel lock because driving a car could result in an accident. Does that make sense? Sure, people get killed from handling a gun carelessly but that doesn't mean responsible people should kept from handling their gun as they see fit just because a few do abuse the handling of one.

(The Palestinian terrorist regime is the crisis and Israel's fist is the answer.)

[I got the rope]

Gun locks are for fags.

[marktwain]

"The only reason to require a gun lock is to prevent a gun from being used when one needs it. That's like having a car sold with a wheel lock because driving a car could result in an accident. Does that make sense? Sure, people get killed from handling a gun carelessly but that doesn't mean responsible people should kept from handling their gun as they see fit just because a few do abuse the handling of one. "

You are correct. I believe the strategy is to set up lawsuits for the few gun accidents that occur. When everyone fears that they must have the gun locked up or be sued out of existence when a gun is stolen or used in a suicide or accident, then most guns will be locked and unavailable for self defense.

Once the anti-freedom types can make the case that guns are useless for self defense because they *must* be locked up, then all the rest of gun control follows.

Self Defense is the reason gun control doesn't sell. That is why the anti-freedom crowd so vigorously lies about the usefulness of guns for self defense, and why the anti-gun legislation in Britain, Australia, and Canada forbid the use of guns for self defense by requiring that they be unloaded and locked up at all times when they are not being used for specific functions such as target shooting or hunting.

[absolootezer0]

hey, gun locks are good. if you run out of ammo, take one of those cable locks by the end and it becomes a pretty effective flail - just make sure its with the gun, not on the gun.

[MD_Willington_1976]

I use my gun lock to lock my shed, dangerous stuff in there you know, chainsaw, cordless drill with high capacity battery, lawn mower, coping saw, pick axe... It's an arsenal.

[Dutch Boy]

I'm prepared to use mine for throwing if I ever run out of ammo.

[MD_Willington_1976]

...lol...