Gun Ruling Fires up Moms
Friday, June 27, 2008
A new Supreme Court ruling ticks off some gun-hating parents.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not allow "the absolute prohibition of handguns used for self-defense in the home." That being said, the court essentially decided that the gun-control law in Washington D.C.--which required that weapons be locked or require disassembly-- was too extreme, because it rendered the weapons useless for self-defense.
Senator John McCain agrees with the ruling: "I applaud this decision as well as the overturning of the District of Columbia's ban on handguns and limitations on the ability to use firearms for self-defense." Senator Barack Obama didn't sign in support of overturning the D.C. law.
No matter which side you're on, children getting their hands on guns that are not locked or disassembled is heart breaking. Earlier this month, a 3-year-old in Deltona, Fla., shot himself in the stomach while playing with a gun left on his mother's nightstand. He survived the incident, but a 3-year-old in another case wasn't so lucky. The Joliet, Ill., boy died on Wednesday after the handgun he was playing with in his home went off, shooting him fatally in the head.
Some parents are fighting mad, saying handguns should continue to be required to be disassembled in order to prevent such tragedies. Others want them banned entirely. What do you think?
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Email11 comments so far | Post a comment now >>
This is our right to carry and have guns. So what if some parents are mad. You will never have anything that all the people agree on. There will always be someone to argue. We have several guns in our house and a six year old son. I hvae never once been afraid my son would find them and get hurt. If you are responsable by locking them up and teaching your child about guns and the right info then there is no reason to make everyone throw their guns away because some people dont like it. I was raised around guns and so was my husband. We both have been shooting since we were young. Nothing has ever happened to us, we were taught right and respect the guns as a weapon not a toy. A child gets killed by more other stuff in the house than guns.
- michele
Barack Obama abstains from every important vote. He does not even represent his current constituents - why anyone thinks he is qualified to be president is beyond me. At least we still have some people in the court who care about our constitutional right. Are those in favor of banning guns also in favor of banning knives, knitting needles, baseball bats, automobiles and all other items that a person who wishes to inflict harm on another can use to do so?
- Anonymous
I think there is a huge difference between not having your gun assembled and not having your gun sitting out on your night stand when you have a three year old child - they are too young too know better by far! I think locking the gun up, in an accessible location to trained adults, is the best solution. As long as you can access it quickly in an emergency situation, I think you’ll be fine and quickly doesn’t have to mean not locked, just not buried in three cases and disassembled inside. Be practical! Now me personally, I don’t want guns in my house - but my husband and I aren’t the kind of people who have any interest in knowing how to use a gun, and thus aren’t the kinds of people who should own a gun. It’s about choice in the end.
- Jen E
They (the “fighting mad” parents) can always move to England or Australia. :) As for me, I’m delighted with the five justices who were actually able to read and understand the simple english sentence that is the second Amendment. (You know, the one that is part of the “Highest Law of the Land” - Article VI). Full disclosure - I actually did drive a mugger away with my handgun one night when leaving a friend’s home in a bad part of town at 11:30 PM. Here is what happened… I left my friend’s home and while walking on the sidewalk towards my parked Van, a large black guy (he was at least 6’3”, 210 pounds, and in his mid-twenties - whereas I was white, 5’7”, 180, and 42 at the time) approached me, reached into his pocket and pulled out a tire chain and flung in down in a very menacing manner in front of me. I calmly stopped, reached into my pocket and pulled out my Sig Sauer P226 9mm handgun and when he saw it, he cursed out loud, turned around, and ran away from me as fast as he could. After I got in my Van, I was THANKING GOD for our freedom that other people in the world do not have! Thank God for those who have defended our rights as free men and women, including the most important of those rights - the Right to Keep and Bear Arms! :)
- Bill
I don’t want a gun in my house. I never had one growing up. I hope my daughter never, God forbid, gets hurt by someone who has a gun. HOWEVER, if guns are outlawed, only criminals will have them. I read about a town where residents were required to own guns, and crime went down. Way down- because the criminals didn’t want to walk into a home or business where the people were armed. The law wasn’t enforced, but it made a difference. People have a right to own guns. Children should be taught about how to react if a gun is found. Parents have to educate their children. Even though we had no guns, my parents took time to talk about guns with us to make sure we never got hurt. We had family members with guns, and our family had a code phrase- the rule was that before someone shot at an intruder, they said the 1st half of the phrase and if the person didn’t respond with the second half of the phrase, you’re free to shoot b/c they are an intruder. This actually saved my father’s life when he tried sneaking in his house late at night as a teenager. People should be smart about firearms, not ban them.
- T
I see no problem with this new gun-law being passed. I personally do not have a gun in the house, but that is not because I am afraid my kids will get hurt, it’s because I have never used one. I believe if you have a gun you should know how to use it. If you don’t, you don’t need a gun anyway. Guns do not hurt people, people hurt people! It takes a person to make a gun go off. If you have kids and a gun in the same house it is your responsibility to make sure that gun is taken apart and put away where they cannot get to it. There is no point in having it unless you can use it when you need it, but if your creative enough you can figure out away to have it when you need it and keep your kids from getting hurt at the same time. Everyone has the choice of having a gun in there house or not. This law will not change that fact. If you don’t agree with having a gun and kids in the same place then don’t buy a gun! If you don’t want your kids around guns then it is your responsiblity to make sure their friends parents either don’t have a gun in their house or have one and it’s put away to your satisfaction. If not then don’t let your kids go to their house have them come to yours. Nobody wants to lose their freedom of choice. Isn’t this just going against that? You can choose not to have a gun, but you should also be able to choose to have one. All anyone has to do is take the proper precautions if you have kids. Also, don’t keep the kids ignorant if you choose to get a gun and keep it in the house. If you know how to use it then you won’t get hurt with it.
- mommy3
There are many things in our homes that can kill a child… the sharp knives in our kitchen drawers… the bleach in the laundry room… the drano we use for clogged drains… every single electrical outlet… the cords on our window blinds… the simple iron pills in our medicine chest…the power tools in the shed… and yes, some parents have guns too. I think if parents will just be parents children will be safe from all these items and more. Bad parenting sometimes kills children not guns alone.
- momof9
The flip side of the tragic stories of children being killed by improperly secured weapons is all of the children whose lives and safety were protected by parents who had a gun and were able to use it to stop an intruder. Let’s face it. A parent who is dumb enough to leave a loaded gun on the nightstand probably endangers their child in all sorts of other ways. It’s absolutely ridiculous to endanger the lives of millions of children of RESPONSIBLE parents by making them vulnerable to criminals (WHO HAVE GUNS!) just because of a few parents who probably leave bottles of bleach cleaner laying around too.
- Michelle
I agree, who the heck leaves their gun LOADED or even the bullets nearby where a child can reach. We have several handguns. I have my own, and it made me feel a lot safer when my husband was overseas and my daugher and I were alone for 16 months. But I NEVER leave it loaded, and I don’t store the bullets with it. People who do stupid, irresponsible things like this give everyone else a bad rap. “Ted Kennedy’s car killed more people than my gun”
- Colleen
Thank you Senator McCain for giving Americans what they rightly deserve, their rights back. This is America and we have the right to protect ourselves. Once again, Obama you sit on the side lines not listening to what the majority wants. Anyway, my point is whether you choose to possess a gun or not, you now have that choice thanks to people who understand that you should have that right. I personally don’t like guns BUT there is a gun in my house for protection. I am thankful that I have the right to use it in case someone tries to break into my house and hurt my family.
- CK1
m16
- Anonymous
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