May be nit picking but I wouldn't have an unloaded shot gun in my house. I might not have time to load it. I have no little ones at home though and at Christmas time, when they are all here, there is no gun anywhere that they are likely to find. I say "likely" because I never underestimate the ingenuity of a toddler, they must be watched closer than a democrat on election day.
He’s referring to racking a round into the chamber of a pump shotgun, it has a very distinctive sound, you keep the magazine loaded with shells.
Well...those words make good writing. Excellent imagery, perhaps especially to those (his intended audience???) who would balk at any kind of loaded weapon in the household.
Sowell is a smart, shrewed, articulate writer.
The “red necks” aren’t the ones he’s trying to convince....it’s those who aren’t on his/our side. He ain’t there to preach to the choir. I’m sure he knows that folks who have shotguns likely keep them loaded.
I’m sure he also knows his audience would take that one snippet and focus on the loaded shotgun instead of the bigger picture: his entire message.
(And it may well be he thinks all guns should not be loaded...but, that is only conjecture.)
That's why you need a dog, too. The dog is not there to protect you; he is there to make sure you have the time to protect yourself.