In a message dated 6/11/01 8:50:38 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<<Even if you know a way to magically make all firearms disappear (including
those owned by the police & military, which could be stolen if those were
the only ones left), how long will it take before homemade ones turn
up? >>
As I noted, I too have doubts about the practicality of an outright ban.
<< Even if you choose to keep your firearms locked, your
children may come across unlocked ones, either at a friend's house or
perhaps finding one that has been dropped on the street, so it is necessary
to train them how to behave around firearms whether or not you have
firearms in the house or whether or not you keep yours locked. >>
Trigger locks aren't a substitute for educating your children about gun
safety. They are a nice backup, though. If we could always trust everyone to
always do the right thing, we wouldn't need *any* laws. :)
<<So how do you know who has a firearm and needs yearly training unless you
have a list of gun owners?>>
Good point. The requirement of a safety class to buy the firearm is easy --
you know who they are because they just came in to buy the firearm. Maybe
they have to present a safety class card or something before they can buy the
firearm? (and I know they can forge one. I didn't say it would be foolproof.)
Perhaps mandatory refresher courses aren't feasible without registration,
though you could require refreshers to "update" your card for buying more
firearms next year.
For private party sales, or the dad who gives his old hunting rifle to his
son, I don't know. But isn't any increase in the number of firearms owners
educated about gun safety a good thing, even if it will never be 100%?
Patrick Sweeney
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
