Does Westchester storage law make gun owners less safe?(MA)

Gun Rights Examiner ^ | 24 August, 2010 | David Codrea

[marktwain]

"Westchester to keep gun-storage law for now," Gerald McKinstry of LoHud.com tells us:

"The county law, enacted in 2000, requires owners to store a gun with a safety lock or in a safe-storage depository."

Gun advocates point out "recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings determined that storing a gun could make it harder for people to defend themselves in their homes..."

Westchester pols, who presume to both know better and possess the "authoritah" to compel others to respect, disagree:

Legislator Martin Rogowsky says they might very well pass the same edicts today. And Legislator Tom Abinanti "think[s] our statute is fine. It is a balance between the rights of gun owners and the rights of society to ensure that guns are stored responsibly."

Left undetermined are how Rogowky and Abinati would perform if they needed to access a disabled gun to save their own lives. Would they do as well as, say, this guy?

"Dennis Henigan of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence drops the ball in front of a roomful of reporters, while trying to prove the efficacy of Saf-T-Lok, a purportedly easy-to-use combination lock in the gun's grip. Henigan fumbles and fails to unlock the gun in a well-lit room with no intruder at the door... Finally disengaging the safety, he apologizes, 'Most people aren't as klutzy as I am.'"

"-From 'Lawyers, Guns and Money' by Matt Labash, The Weekly Standard, Feb. 1, 1999"

Or this guy?

"A television commercial produced by the NRA took advantage of Maryland Governor Parris Glendening's two minutes of fumbling while he tried to demonstrate to reporters the ease of using the locking device...The governor said later he should have been trained in the proper use of the locking device before he took it before a news conference."

[marktwain]

The major reason for "storage" laws seems to be to render guns unusable for defense of self and home.

[2harddrive]

Cars are NOT a Constitutional right, and kill MANY more people each year than guns, even though there are LESS of them! Does Westchester require all CARS to be locked and stored safely, like in garages? NO??? Why not? Are they gay?

[Jack Hammer]

The gun storage laws of Massachusetts and other states have been enacted simply to hobble gun owners, inasmuch as the self-styled “social elite” feels threatened by folks who own firearms. In the final analysis, the owners tend to be self-empowered, while the “elites” want to empower an enormous, Marxist State - in which, naturally, their word is law.

That’s the whole story, plain and simple.

[The Cajun]

Misread the title at first, thought it said Winchester storage law. First thing that hit my mind was WTH ;^)

[mmercier]

these storage laws are indeed intended to intimidate the law abiding.

anyone who obeys such foolishness is too stupid to own a gun in the first place.

[MHGinTN]

Shoot the perp. Make sure he/she is dead before calling 911, get the lock and put it on the scene while contriving a story of how the perp fumbled around in the dark, giving you time to unlock the weapon and fire on the menacing, advancing intruder. of course, the best solution is to move from the state, taking your tax payments away from the liberal pukes, and living instead in a state with common sense laws.

One note: if you wound a perp, don't make the kill shot from point blank range. Step back about four paces and take careful aim, after propping the perp up into an upright position. Then push the corpse to the floor, face forward.

[Still Thinking]

"It is a balance between the rights of gun owners and the rights of society to ensure that guns are stored responsibly."

Bullpiss! Since when does "society" have rights?

[xrmusn]

while contriving a story of how the perp fumbled around in the dark
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Like the intruder was following the letter of the law and you just got your lock off quicker than he got his off.

Make sure you have a ‘throw down’ lock to place by his bullet riddled body.

[MHGinTN]

Nahy, the perp will be dead. Not using his lock is his problem. All I have to account for is my lock ... actually, in TN we have the castle laws, so shoot the bitches and make sure they’re dead, then call the local lawdog office. Our ‘lock’ is ‘lock and load’.

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

I know all about the lobstah laws in Massachusetts,too,including the butter part.

[CabinJohn]

Exactly where is Westchester MA?
There is a Winchester MA and there is a Westchester NY....

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

i guess you’d have to google a map. i’ve not a clue-i live in VT

[School of Rational Thought]

Society has a right to safe storage?

[marktwain]

“Society has a right to safe storage?”

“Progressive” code talk that means: There shall be no limits on government power.