Wobble wrote:Same for storage while I think about it.
I'm lost as to how some people argue that being told to lock up your guns is an an infringement of their rights.
I've been asked this question before, this was my answer.
Bronx, NY around 1983 or so.
My older brother (17) and I (12) stayed home from school one day. The doorbell rings and there are two guys standing there. One asks if the home is for sale, my brother responds “no” and suspecting something is wrong starts to close the door. One of them shoves his foot in the door and the two force their way into the front foyer. My brother (large for a 17 y\o) struggles with them to keep them from entering the second door into our home. I show up about this time to see what the commotion is about. One guy pulls a small gun and my brother grabs it and they start to wrestle for it. The other guy starts to try and choke my brother from the back. My brother yells to me “GET DAD’S GUN!”. I then run and get my father’s gun which was store in a safe place, but accessible to all family members. I run back up the hallway and the two men see me running towards them with what must have appeared to be a giant hand cannon. They start to make their way out the door as I hand the gun to my brother. The two men jump into the back seat of a waiting car (with a driver, so there were three men) and speed off. My brother had been pistol whipped and had a nasty gash on his forehead but was otherwise fine.
The same day we flip through mug shots and I positively ID the two men. Turns out the two men were wanted for several other home invasions, one in which they tied and beat two women nearly to death. If my brother and I did not stay home that day, my mother would have been alone.
Had my father’s gun been secured, I would not have been able to retrieve it and may not be here to write this today. My father (an Olympic level marksman) used education to ensure there we treated firearms with respect, not hide them away. All that does is increase a child’s curiosity.
Hope that helps.